


The Show Must Go On

by wanderingoverthewords



Category: Five Nights at Freddy's
Genre: Gen, Swearing, humanised characters, light adult themes here and there
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-11
Updated: 2015-08-23
Packaged: 2018-04-08 19:04:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 31,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4316172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wanderingoverthewords/pseuds/wanderingoverthewords
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where some humans are born with animal characteristics, only one restaurant stood based upon this new kind of human…well. Until the place across the street opened up.//Humanised characters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza!

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t own Five Nights at Freddy’s. Scott Cawthon does.
> 
> Summary: In a world where some humans are born with animal characteristics, only one restaurant stood based upon this new kind of human…well. Until the place across the street opened up.
> 
> Notes: humanised characters, swearing, some slight adult themes here and there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Five Nights at Freddy's. Scott Cawthon does.
> 
> Notes: humanised characters, swearing, some slight adult themes here and there.

Nobody even knew where it had come from. It’d been an epidemic, some had said. Contagious, painful; just plain wrong. Others had considered it some sort of miracle of sorts. They’d gotten it into their thick skulls that this was a gift from God, that God was fixing whatever damage had been done, caused by the human race itself. There had been protests on the treatment of such people - as there were with any type of person that others didn’t understand - between those most scientific and those most religious. Science vs. God; the thinkers vs. the believers. Everyone in between - who didn’t give a damn how it had started - just thought it was really fucking weird.

The ‘epidemic’ in question had started years and years ago, some time after the second World War. When babies were being born as quickly as daisies grew, one such child - found in a small cluster of houses in London - was born a little…different.

It hadn’t been all that obvious straight from birth; it’d taken a month or two to really be noticed and, when it was, panic broke out. The little boy hadn’t been born with any sort of disability at all, no, no. He’d been born…with dog ears. It had been bizarre, unheard of and generally fucked up. Rumours broke out, aliens were mentioned and bitch jokes were made. People blamed the bombs that had been dropped, saying the explosions must’ve screwed something up in the mother’s blood or in her genes or whatever and that had led to this child having the ears of a dog. Some accused her of genuine bestiality before scientists stepped forward to say that wouldn’t be possible. She was harassed, accused of obscene and morbid things, threatened; it only got worse as the child grew up. A tail soon came, then the child would sometimes act like the animal he had ‘inherited’ (there was no better word for it) his ears and tail from. He had a heightened sense of smell, his tail revealed his emotions more than his eyes did and he had a knack for catching anything thrown at him.

Tests were run, but no one could find a reason for this. Then another child had been born, this time with lizard scales on random patches of skin. Then another, with the bill of a duck. Then another and another and another and, soon, it seemed there was an army of people with animal qualities. No one could ever find the reason back then, only blamed it on whoever had been their enemy during the war or on some higher being.

Nowadays, nobody really gave a damn.

‘Animas’, as they had been _scientifically_ called, blended in with society as easily as any other group of ‘new’ humans could. There was still prejudice toward them, as one would expect; jealousy at them for being able to do things normal humans couldn’t (which, sometimes, wasn’t even a _good_ thing) and general curiosity on their biology and how they ran. In all cases, they functioned as any human would; they had a heart that beat in their chests, blood that ran through their veins, lungs that took in oxygen and passed out carbon dioxide; all the bits and pieces humans were made from.

Kids were especially fascinated with them, found them people to look up to, and that had inspired many to pursue careers linked to animas. Television shows were made, comics were drawn, schools mixing normal humans and animas were built and restaurants were opened. One such diner was made that welcomed people of any kind. Run by a bear and a rabbit, the diner had been a massive hit. The bear in question had no prejudice toward anyone and was an absolute delight toward those who stepped foot in his restaurant and his rabbit partner entertained the children with stories and jokes and his own musical talent. It had probably helped that they had apprentices (or so they were called) who were as old as the children who visited for a meal and a show; the bear’s younger brother and the rabbit’s little cousin. The restaurant had been a complete success, everyone in the area knew it.

Then, one day, the dream place fell apart. No article in any newspaper could give details, as none were given to the reporters and writers that slaved over the pages. There were rumours that the animas there had gone wild and some claimed to see their eyes turn black. That was another thing about these abnormal humans - black eyes meant they were out of control and dangerous. Most with those eyes were tasered immediately and put away until they were normal again (or as normal as animas could be, anyway). Whatever had happened at that restaurant didn’t matter to some; the place was shut down and the animas who had run it, along with their little relatives, were gone. Children everywhere were heartbroken at the loss of their heroes and most today had only heard of that old place. Nobody had dared open another place like that; not one based off of animas.

Except one.

“Hey, everyone! Welcome to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza!”

After so many years - long enough for those little apprentices to grow into adults - a new restaurant had opened up. As of now, it had been open for about three years or so and it was _loved._

“I’m Freddy Fazbear himself,” the large man on the stage announced, his right hand grasping a microphone as he addressed the audience before him. His left hand took hold of the top hat on his head and whipped it off as he bowed, “and I _thank you_ all for joining me and my friends here today! Speaking of which,” Freddy placed his hat back on as he straightened up, then motioned to the two behind him, “let me introduced you all to them! This is my guitarist and my favourite rabbit ever, Bonnie!”

His introduction was met with the cheering of fans, some no older than six. Bonnie waved to them all with the hand that wasn‘t holding his precious guitar, “Hey, kids! I see some familiar faces here today!” There was a cheer of one particularly excited boy, making Freddy and Bonnie grin to each other.

Freddy then turned to the blonde young lady to his left, “An’ here’s the expert of all things delicious herself: Chica!”

“Hi, there, kids! Nice to see you all!” Chica called once her own fans had lowered the volume of their cheering. Balanced in her hand was a pink cupcake with googly eyes on the front and a single candle protruding from the top.

Freddy turned back to the crowd and gestured to the curtained area over on the right, “And how can my gang be complete without the best pirate on the seven seas - Foxy!”

“Ahoy, me lads and lasses!” Foxy called out, his left hand on his hip and he held up the hook that replaced his right hand. The cheers for him were quite possibly the loudest. “Nice ta see me crew is all fine an’ well!”

“Now, kids, how about my pals and I perform a little song for you?!” Freddy called out. The cheers of agreement all four of his ears met were loud enough to hurt, but he didn’t mind one bit. In fact, his smile only widened, “Alrighty, sounds like they want a song! Let’s -”

“Now, hold on a sec there, Fazbear!” Bonnie interrupted. Freddy turned to him, bear ears wriggling slightly, “Haven’t ya forgotten to mention the _prizes_ for today?!”

At the mention of prizes, the kids all eagerly turned to the leader of the band to listen for more. Freddy slapped his forehead; all of the adults in the crowd could tell this was an act, but the kids couldn’t and that was what was important here. “That I have! Thank you for the reminder, Bonnie! Kids, you know what today is, don’t you?!”

“Sunday!” A little voice came from somewhere in the middle.

Freddy, Bonnie and Chica all chuckled, “That it is, Bear Cub, that it is! Buuuut, it’s also Easter! An’ do ya know what happens on Easter?!”

“Chocolate!” The voice popped up again.

Freddy laughed, a booming sound that should’ve frightened them but didn’t. “Yup! See, my pals Bonnie and Chica - aka, Freddy Fazbear’s _official_ Easter bunny and his chick assistant - have hidden Easter eggs _all over_ my restaurant! And each one -”

“Is chocolate!” Another voice piped up excitedly, quickly hushed by their mother.

Freddy, however, found no offence, “Close! Those eggs all have _prizes_ inside! All you gotta do is _find ‘em!_ Think you can do that, kids?!”

“YEAH!!” came the response.

“Great! Now, let’s get to that song - and happy Easter, everyone!”

Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza was, by far, one of the most successful restaurants anyone had seen in years. Those who remembered the old diner were sceptical at first, though the constant whining of their insistent children was enough to convince them to give it a chance - and, boy, were they glad they did. The entertainers of this place were all animas, of course, and the children all loved them. They were perfect carers too and parents alike could all count on them to watch their kids if a quick trip to the toilet or outside was needed. Freddy and his friends really were the friendliest people their customers had ever met. It helped that the pizza here was delicious too. Really, this was a safe haven for all children who came here and the parents couldn’t be happier that such a place existed. None of the entertainers minded at all acting silly for the kids - they loved it, even!

Unbeknownst to the crowd, behind them was another anima. He wasn’t an entertainer for the restaurant, nor was he a server or a cook. Regardless, he was an important part of the establishment - and he was staring into one of the security cameras above him. For several minutes, he stared straight into the lens, which wasn’t difficult with his height, until he realised it wasn’t being checked. His awkward smile fell into a disappointed frown, then he turned and walked down the corridor to his right, straight passed Pirate Cove. He was in no hurry to pass down the hall, his eyes on the camera that would give his position away. The little red light still didn’t turn on. His frown deepened. Why were none of these turning on? Wasn’t his friend playing his game with him today?

Finally, the blond reached the office. Here, Freddy’s security guard watched the restaurant with a tablet for several hours everyday and he prided himself in making friends with the man…who wasn’t in his chair. His eyes widened as he looked around, then he stepped in (having to duck his head as he did so). The security guard wasn’t the only employee who was supposed to be working here, after all. The anima approached the other blond man in the room, who had his back to him. He tapped his shoulder, making the human spin around in his chair to face him, “Whoa! Goldie - hehe, you frightened me a little there!”

Goldie Fazbear regarded his other human friend with a worried look. This anima was Freddy’s older brother, as close to him as any brothers could ever be. He was seven or eight feet tall and very strong; possibly the strongest person anyone here knew. His fairly muscular body - with its stern shoulders and its thin stomach area - was dressed up in a yellow suit identical to his younger brother’s, with a dark blue bow tie and a matching top hat on his head. Under his hat was bright blond hair, short for the most part, not counting the one long piece that almost flopped over one eye. Yellow bear ears stuck up through the holes made in the brim of his hat. Unlike the entertainers, he didn’t wear gloves, so his clawed fingers were visible, though no one who worked here feared them. Nor did they fear his black scleras, which circled the pinprick white fusions of his irises and pupils.

The man he was quite literally looking to for answers was a human dressed in the uniform of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza: purple shirt with black epaulettes attached to the shoulders, black tie, black slacks and shiny black shoes. His blond hair was cut short, barely even reaching his neck and parted in the middle to make two very short bangs that framed his forehead. Behind his rimless glasses were warm, green eyes that - while not necessarily young - were kind, serene and calm. A little taller than the average human man, Goldie still towered over him completely. “What’s the matter, Goldie?” Goldie gestured to the chair in the middle of the office. The man turned to look at it, then his brow furrowed as he turned back to Goldie, “I’m sorry, Goldie. I don’t know where he is.” Goldie’s bear ears lowered slightly. “But you’re welcome to stay here if you want.”

Goldie sighed through his nose and plopped down on the tiled floor, knees to his chest as he rested his back against the leather chair of his human friend. The man looked like he was going to say something else, then froze as one of the phones on his desk began ringing. “Sorry, Goldie - one second.” He muttered to him as he picked up the receiver and spoke in a chipper tone, “Hello, hello! Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza - what can I do ya for?!”

Outside, the song had long since ended, the applause had been given and it was time for the entertainers to roam. Bonnie was the first off of the stage. A tall man with curly hair that matched the fur on his rabbit ears, Bonnie was dressed all in purple of the same hue, with the exception of his waistcoat, which was just one or two shades brighter. The rabbit anima searched the crowd for someone to approach, his red guitar slung over his shoulder. His small tail wagged lightly in excitement as all four of his ears listened out for anyone who wanted his attention. Luckily for him, there was, and it was in the form of a little boy with a propeller hat. Bonnie grinned, revealing his buck teeth, and his magenta eyes lit up, “Hey, there! Whatcha got, buddy?” He crouched down for the boy, who was a regular at the restaurant and Bonnie’s self-proclaimed biggest fan.

“Lookie, Bonnie! I found one! It was under that table!” He pointed in the direction of the egg’s hiding place as his other hand held up the object.

“Wow! Good work, Samson!” Bonnie congratulated him, taking the egg in to one of his purple gloved hands, “Let’s see what ya got, huh?” He took hold of the different halves of the egg and twisted until the top came off, then he tipped the little prize into his palm. “Well, lookit that! Ya got a lil’ race car!”

“Wow - cool!” Samson exclaimed in delight as he took the small, red car from him and examined it. “Thanks, Bonnie!”

“Aw, it’s no problem at all! You got a good eye, Samson! See if ya can find another, huh?”

“Got it!” Samson nodded, giving Bonnie a quick hug before he disappeared back into the crowd.

Across the restaurant, a small, chubby boy with blond hair was darting through the crowd, attempting to find his own role model. He too had found his own egg, which he cradled gently in his hands as he searched. He pushed passed a few people the best he could, apologising quickly, before his egg was suddenly snatched out of his hands. The poor kid skidded to a halt and whipped around to the older boy, who was now holding his egg in one hand, “H-Hey!” He exclaimed, mustering up all of his courage to do so.

 _“What?”_ The older boy snapped, making the younger one recoil in fright. The poor blond felt tears well up in his eyes. There had to be something he could do to get this kid to back off! That was his egg - he’d found it with his own two eyes! His bottom lip quivered as he tried to think of _something_ to say -

“Hey, now!”

The little boy’s spirits immediately lifted at that, and his own hero stepped into view. The shortest of the Fazbear gang and of Italian decent, Chica was not a force to be messed with. Her blond hair was styled into a bob cut, with three tufts sticking up at the top; the colour matching her outfit in the same manner as Bonnie’s did. The top half of her dress was a little tight on her and was coloured white, decorated with sewn-on sprinkles of every colour; LET’S EAT printed on the front in bold text. The skirt of the dress was bright yellow and flowed to her knees; comfortable and airy. She was a chicken anima (no matter what others believed…), displayed by the beak that replaced her lips and the light yellow feathers scattered on little patches on her arms and legs. Chica could very confidently admit she was a little overweight and didn’t particularly care what others thought; precisely why Freddy had hired her so quickly. The chicken anima walked over to the two boys, her yellow plimsolls making fast work across the tiled floor. “That just isn’t right! You can’t steal things, sweetie,” she laid a palm out in front of the thief, a silent command for the egg to be given to her. The boy gulped nervously, then handed her the egg, “it’s plain wrong.” She turned to the original finder and held it out with a soft smile, “Here you go, kiddo! Good job on finding it!”

“Th-Thanks, Chica…” The little boy muttered as it was handed to him, his smile back on his face. “No prob, Maxwell.” Chica replied. Another regular at the restaurant, this little boy had taken a liken to Chica from day one. It had delighted her to know she was loved so much and she had taken it upon herself to care for him and watch out for him whenever he visited the establishment. She turned to the thief, who was suddenly very interested in his shoes, “Hey, don’t look so sad, huh?” He looked up at her and she smiled at him kindly, then held out a gloved hand, “How ‘bout I help ya find an egg? Does that sound good?”

The boy sniffled lightly, then hesitantly smiled, “Mm-hm…” He reached up with his grubby little hand and clutched hers.

Chica turned to Maxwell with the same smile, “You wanna come along too, Max?”

Maxwell glanced at his robber a little nervously, then looked up at his hero. Her eyes were warm and encouraging and Maxwell found himself smiling as he reached up and grasped her other hand, “Okay, Chica!”

Chica smiled at the both of them as she led them away in a random direction. Of course, she wouldn’t tell them directly where the eggs were - that’d be cheating. She’d just…give them a little hint, that’s all.

Over on the left side of the restaurant was a lovely little area known as Pirate Cove. It was, by far, the restaurant’s most popular area, much to the (secret) chagrin of the other entertainers. The place may have been named after Freddy, but everyone knew who really ran the show around here: Foxy. _Captain_ Foxy, actually. Looking at him, he resembled the pirates one would find in children’s cartoons, from the tricorn hat all the way down to the thick leather boots. Under said hat was long red hair, scruffy and difficult to manage, though that just added to his character. As his name implied, Foxy was a fox anima, with ears peeking out of slits made in his hat and a tail poking out of the hole made in his trousers; almost completely concealed by his coat. A single, white glove on his left hand and a hook replacing his right, Foxy was the textbook definition of a pirate - and the kids loved him. Foxy’s main role in the restaurant was to entertain the children with tales of his times on the seas, though he occasionally acted some of these out (with the help of Chica, Bonnie and Freddy, of course); much to the joy of every kid in the restaurant. Foxy prided himself in being so popular; he simply loved having his own little crew around!

In fact, here they were now.

“Foxy! Foxy! Foxy! Foxy!”

Fox ears twitching at the sound, Foxy whipped around to all of the kids that suddenly came running at him. Some of the little hands were clutching brightly coloured eggs, some were clutching the prizes they’d already gotten out of them.

“Look, Foxy!”

“Foxy, look what I got!”

“You wanna do this puzzle with me, Foxy?!”

“Foxy, I can’t get my egg open…!”

“Foxy!”

“Foxy!”

“Foxy!”

“Woah, woah, me lads and lasses!” Foxy waved his hand at them to calm them; it did next to nothing. “Looks like me crew have been mighty busy findin’ ol’ Bonnie and Chica’s treasure troves, eh?!” He crouched down to get a better view of the eggs and prizes brandished toward him, “Arr! What do we have here, then?”

“Foxy! Foxy!” a little voice called through the crowd and Foxy’s smile widened into a toothy grin as a small girl burst through the crowd. She was dressed almost exactly like him, missing only the coat and the trousers (which she had replaced with a skirt), and had dark skin and brown hair. “Foxy, look! I found two already!”

“Aye! There be me lil’ first mate! Doin’ her ol’ captain proud!” The little girl giggled and blushed at the compliments, making Foxy’s yellow eye light up, “Now, let’s see what we got ‘ere…” He reached forward with his one hand and gently opened the egg for her, “Well, would ye look at tha’! Me little lass has ‘erself a stash o’ sweets!” He gently pulled the packet of multicoloured sweets out of the egg, to which the little girl grinned and offered her other egg. In that, figurines were found, each one depicting the animal each anima represented.

“Cool, cool, cool!” Foxy’s first mate exclaimed, throwing her little arms around Foxy’s neck in a hug, “Thanks, Foxy!”

Foxy smiled widely and returned her hug, “Ye be most welcome, Sarah, lil’ lass.”

Before Foxy could even let go of the girl, he was further bombarded by the rest of his crew. “Foxy, open this one too!”

“Foxy, I still can’t open mine…!”

“Foxy, tell us a story!”

“Yeah, tell us one!”

“Please, Foxy?!”

Foxy chuckled as he tried to settle the kids around him. Who ever thought Pirate Cove would be so popular?!

…Why, the bear anima watching them did.

Freddy Fazbear himself was always last off of the stage. He liked giving his co-workers the time to interact with the kids before he did. After all, Foxy may have been the most popular, but he was still right up there on the favourite lists!

…Right?

Freddy laughed at the sight of his friend getting surrounded by kids as he stepped down from the stage. All around him, kids were fussing over random areas of the pizzeria, trying desperately to find the best eggs before others could. He watched as some found the stripy and spotted eggs Bonnie and Chica had hid around the place that morning; he watched as they ran over to their parents or his fellow entertainers to show the prizes they had gotten. If they weren’t searching for eggs, they were eating the restaurant’s yummy pizza or playing the arcade games. Freddy’s smile only widened at every happy face he saw - as long as the children were happy, he was happy.

Freddy was a naturally jolly fellow to the kids who visited his restaurant. A bear anima, possibly the most famous of his kind, Freddy had his own pair of bear ears sticking up from the holes in the brim of his hat and a little tail that was relatively useless, but there all the same. He was the tallest of the entertainers - if only beating Bonnie and Foxy by a centimetre - and wide around the belly, though he found kids loved that about him. After all, who didn’t love a fat guy with bear ears? His suit was the same colour as a bear’s fur, with a light brown waistcoat and white shirt underneath. A black bow tie at his collar and shiny black shoes on his feet, Freddy looked quite the gentleman. His blue eyes searched the crowd of happy faces before he took a glance at the west hall. He knew his big brother must’ve disappeared into the office by now, having gotten no response from the cameras, and Freddy let out a little huff. If Goldie was fed up watching the dead cameras, that must’ve meant his security guard still hadn’t shown up. Freddy shook his head lightly. That kid really needed to get his act together. He couldn’t afford to have his employees be so unreliable! Then again, he really hated the thought of handing out a pink slip, so he supposed -

“FREDDY!”

Freddy turned quickly as a blur of pink and yellow came running at him. Grinning widely, he dropped to one knee and held out his arms, “Emily!” Just like that, the little girl in the pink dress was in his arms and hugging him tightly around the neck. Freddy hugged her as closely as he could without hurting her (bear animas were strong, after all!), then pulled back to grin at her, “Hey, Emily! Haven’t seen you around for a while! How’s school going?”

“It’s okay.” Emily wrung her hands, “Really boring, though!”

“Aw, well, if it gets you you’re education, huh?” Freddy offered up, standing just as Emily’s mother approached. Emily and her mother had been regulars to Freddy’s ever since the place opened. As such, Freddy knew much about their lives and played almost a fatherly role to the little girl who loved him so. He’d known from day one that Emily’s parents had divorced and the lowlife of a father had ditched them. Well, Freddy was more than willing to take that role instead. As far as he was concerned, every child that came to his restaurant was his cub.

“Hi, Freddy,” Emily’s mother smiled at him.

Freddy tipped his hat to her, revealing his neatly-combed brown hair, “Ma’am.”

“Freddy, do that thing with your ears!” Emily requested excitedly, blond pigtails bouncing as she tugged on Freddy’s trouser leg.

Freddy looked down at her, smiled, then removed his hat again, “Well, which pair do you mean, Emily?” He wriggled his human ears, “These ones? Or…” He wriggled his bear ears next, making her giggle, “these ones?” Emily jumped up and down on the balls of her feet, laughing loudly as Freddy alternated between which pair of ears he moved. Freddy grinned widely; nothing like making a kid laugh to cheer him up! He went back down to one knee, “Emily, you found any eggs yet?”

“Nope, not yet!” She patted her tummy, “I’ve been eating pizza!”

“Pepperoni again?”

“Uh-huh!”

“Well, that _is_ our best. Recommended by Chica herself, so you know it’s good!” Freddy exclaimed, “I’m pretty partial to _honey_ pizza, though…”

“Ew! Freddy, that sounds gross!” Emily giggled.

“No, no, I swear, it’s delicious!” Freddy grinned, baring his sharp canines. “Really sweet, y’know?”

Emily covered her mouth with her hands as she laughed, then she grabbed one of his hands, “C’mon, Freddy! Come eat with me! Pleeeaaase?”

“Oh - uh, I don’t know.” He looked to her mother, “As long as it’s okay with your mom?”

“It’s fine, Freddy.” Emily’s mother smiled at him gently. He really was such a sweet man.

“Well, you heard her, Bear Cub!” Freddy exclaimed, almost tripping over as Emily dragged him back to the table she had been sitting at previously.

Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza really was the restaurant to beat. With its friendly animas, its delicious pizza and its genuinely safe feeling, it was on the favourite lists of children, parents and critics everywhere. Nobody had been sure about another anima-themed restaurant, much less three of the performers themselves, but Freddy had been confident. He’d learned everything about running a diner when he was a child, when he would watch his big brother up on stage and when he would interact with Goldie’s fans. Nowadays, Goldie took a back seat to all of that. After all, those had been the good days - the days when Goldie could talk.

…

“Thanks for coming to Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza! I’ll see you all next time!” Freddy called out to the retreating families.

Closing time already - and what a day it had been! A completely successful Easter, if there ever was one! The entertainers waved to their fans, smiles on their faces and promises to play again soon on their lips as the children left. None of them could quite keep their lips from turning upwards. This really was the high life for them; they simply loved entertaining others. To be honest, Bonnie and Chica had needed a little bit of convincing before Freddy could get them up on stage for the first time, due to differing reasons. Foxy, on the other hand, had jumped right into the role; one could argue ‘pirate’ was the only format his mind knew how to fix itself into. Goldie did his best not to bother anyone and spent most of his time with his human friends in the office. Freddy had attempted to find some role for his brother to play, but Goldie would have none of it. His time as a diner owner and entertainer was over; it was Freddy’s turn now.

As soon as the doors were shut and the _Sorry, we’re closed_ sign had been put up, the entertainers sighed in unison, allowing their bodies to relax. Bonnie stretched his arms up, “Wowee-zowee! What a day, huh, guys?!”

“Aye, lad.” Foxy came out from behind his curtains, using his left hand to try and stretch his spine out, “Me back…lil’ crew seemed mighty excited t’day!”

“Well, of course,” Chica hopped down from the stage, “you know how much they love you, Foxy!”

“They don’t _love me,_ lass…”

“Yes, they do! You’re the favourite - stop being modest!”

Bonnie grinned at the two, then turned to Freddy, only to pause at the bear’s expression. His lips tightly held together and his brow furrowed, Freddy looked…ticked. “Freddy? What’s wrong? Today was a success! You should be happy!”

“I am, Bonnie.” Freddy insisted quietly, stepping down from the stage, “But I’d be a _lot_ happier if my _security guard_ had been _doing his job…!”_ The bear anima disappeared down the west hall; the other three entertainers looked at each other worriedly.

They all loved their security guard, really they did. As soon as Freddy brought him back to the restaurant, they had all accepted him as part of the Fazbear crew - and not just because he was the first security guard they’d had in months that actually looked like he could do the job right. Until then, they had had their phone operator play the part of the guard. He was fine and all, but Freddy hadn’t wanted to stress the poor guy out. Despite their attempts at friendship, however, their guard was still aggressive toward them. They chalked it down to nervousness at this new job and ignored it for the most part, though they really couldn’t let it go that he hadn’t been turning up to work on time lately. Naturally, worry dwelled in each of them, even though they didn’t know him all that well, and they had the right mind to ask what was going on. Not even Goldie - the only one who had been able to make friends - could give answers. Freddy suspected he simply hadn’t wanted to, though, in respect for his buddy. Freddy didn’t know whether to be proud or insulted.

The bear anima stalked down the hall until he reached the left doorway of the office, then he poked his head in. “Scott?”

The man spun around in his chair, almost hitting Goldie in the face, “Hello, hello, Freddy!” He greeted his boss, “Nice work on today!”

“Thanks.” Freddy passed off the compliment. He noticed the tablet in the blond’s hand and frowned. “Still not here, huh?”

“No. I haven’t even gotten a call.”

Freddy huffed and shook his head. He gave both blonds a wave as he disappeared back into the darkness of the corridor. This really had to stop. He had hired a security guard for a _reason,_ for God’s sake! As he entered the dining area, rubbing his face with one palm, he was collected by the shoulders rather suddenly by Chica.

“Freddy.”

“Chica.”

“Bonnie’s in the kitchen.”

Freddy peeked at her from behind his fingers, “That’s nice.”

“Alone.” She felt Freddy tense beneath her hands and rolled her eyes, “Oh, c’mon, Freddy! You’ve been putting this off for ages now - it’s time to ask him!”

Freddy slowly uncovered his face and looked into Chica’s eyes as he thought about it. He knew exactly what she was referring to.

Freddy and Bonnie had been together for about a year or so now, unbeknownst to many of the customers at the restaurant. In regards to some - ahem - prejudices of the parents, the two had elected to keeping it a secret from them; only the most observant ever spotted the attraction between the two. By all means, Freddy wouldn’t deny it had anyone ever asked. Why should he? He wasn’t ashamed to admit he loved another man, nor was he ashamed to admit that man had rabbit ears and a tail. Quite frankly, if they couldn’t accept that, they could just get out of his restaurant.

In any case, Chica was right. The question Freddy had for Bonnie was of utmost important and he’d wanted to ask for ages now, but…it was hard, alright?! “Chica…” “Oh, come on, Freddy! Foxy, get over here!”

The fox anima looked up from where he was cleaning his hook, “Aye?” Chica gestured for him to come over and, after placing his rag down on the treasure chest in the cove, he joined them.

“Freddy’s being a coward.”

“I’m not being a coward!” Freddy exclaimed.

“Aye, Fazbear…” Foxy sighed, “Bonnie loves ye, y’know.”

“I do.”

“So how can he say no?!” Chica added. Freddy looked away, his bear ears drooping. He could think of a few reasons…

“Fazbear, what be the harm in jus’ _asking_ the lad?” Foxy questioned gently.

“Mm…” Freddy didn’t want to say it.

“Freddy, c’mon.” Chica’s tone was still firm, but she’d taken to being gentler now. “You encourage the kids who come to this restaurant to be brave and not to let fear stop ‘em. So, what’s stopping _you?”_

“The lass be right, Fazbear. Yer being sort of hypocritical at this point…”

Freddy bit his lip as he thought about it. Oh, he _knew_ all of this! They didn’t need to tell him! But…this was _different._ This wasn’t like a trip to the dentist or telling his mother he’d spilt grape juice in the car! This was…this was…

…This wasn’t actually all that different, was it? All of it was just fear and fear had to die sometime, right?

“C’mon, Freddy!” Chica moved around him and rubbed his shoulders in a way a coach would do for their best student, “You’re gonna march right in there and you’re gonna ask Bonnie! Aren’t you?”

“I’ll try…”

“No trying be necessary, Fazbear!” Foxy added, using his hook to lift Freddy’s chin up. “Bonnie’ll be ecstatic!”

“Now, answer me: who’s the bear?!” Chica exclaimed.

“I’m the bear…”

“Louder! Who’s the bear?!”

“I’m the bear.”

“More feeling! Who’s the bear?!”

“I’m the bear!”

“Who’s the bear?!”

“I’m the bear!”

“WHO’S THE BEAR?!”

“I’M THE BEAR!”

Chica was downright screaming at this point, _“WHO’S THE BEAR?!”_

 _“I’M THE BEAR!!”_ Freddy shouted right back, throwing his arms up in the air.

The kitchen door opened a little and Bonnie poked his head out, “Who’s the bear?” He asked confusedly, brow raising.

Said bear anima spun around to him before Chica or Foxy could stop him, _“I’M THE BE - eeerrrr…”_ Freddy slowly lowered his arms, smiling falling immediately. His cheeks flared up a bright red as he stared at his confused partner. “…I am.”

Bonnie looked to each of them, then chuckled, “Geez, you guys are funny! I dunno what you’re doing, but I like it!” He disappeared back into the kitchen, leaving the other three to bask in the awkward silence.

“…Well. Thanks, guys.” Freddy grumbled as he turned back to them.

“Don’t blame _us!_ You got all pumped up!” Chica straightened his lapels and brushed off some pizza crumbs, “Now! You ready to change yours and Bonnie’s lives for the _better?!”_

“…Yes. Yes, I am!” Freddy looked to her with a grin, his blue eyes lighting up. At least now he knew Bonnie was in a good mood! Yeah! This had to be the day! He spun on his heel and pushed the kitchen door open in a flurry, strutting his way inside.

It was a cramped little room with pristine, white worktops for the various chefs and workers Freddy had hired to make the children’s meals. Pots and pans hung on the walls, awaiting use and shining under the bulbs above them. The very rabbit man Freddy was looking for was currently hunched over a foamy sink, up to his elbows in soapy water (he’d rolled his sleeves up, Freddy noticed). Bonnie didn’t even notice Freddy standing there until he set another plate on the drying rack. His magenta eyes lit up and a smile was born on his lips, “Well, hey there, bear!”

Freddy immediately felt his cheeks heat up. He’d have to get Chica back for that one… “Uh - hi. Y-You washing up?”

“Yeah,” Bonnie placed another plate on the rack, “figured I would. Let the guys have some extra time off.”

_He’s so thoughtful…_

Well. It was official. Whatever confidence Freddy had had upon entering the room was now gone. Just gone. Completely gone. Not even a trace.

Freddy became aware that he was staring and jolted into action, “Uh - here. Lemme help…” He grabbed a towel from the nearby shelf and picked up a plate, beginning to scrub it dry.

“D’aw, thanks, Freddy.” Bonnie chirped as he went back to washing. The bear anima glanced at the rabbit anima out of the corner of his eye. Bonnie seemed so happily focused on washing the dishes, it was actually quite sweet that he took it upon himself to do someone else’s job. Really, was there any wonder why Freddy liked him so much? “Long day today, huh?”

“Huh? What?”

“Long day.” Bonnie looked to Freddy, “I was just saying it was a long day today, what with all the Easter egg hunts and everything. I did my best when I was hiding those things.” He smiled happily, “I’m glad the kids found ‘em okay. Didn’t wanna make it too hard!”

“I - ahem - I think you did fine, Bonnie.”

Bonnie’s smile dropped, “Hey, are you okay? You’re acting a lil’ funny…”

Freddy scrubbed the plate harder, “What? No, I’m acting the same.”

“No, you’re not…If it’s about the ‘you’re the bear’ thing, that’s okay. We all gotta get some motivation, right?”

Freddy’s lips set into a thin line as he scrubbed quicker, “Mm-hm.”

“I thought it was a lil’ funny, s’all. But it’s okay, Freddo! Like I said, all gotta get motivat - _Freddy!”_

Bonnie’s tone alarmed him, though it was the clatter that made his heart leap. Freddy looked down at the plate he’d been drying - he’d successfully scrubbed it in half. One half was still grasped in his hand, while the other laid on the countertop before him. Freddy’s brow furrowed as Bonnie huffed, “You bear animas and your weird strength…” He clicked his tongue and collected both halves of the plate, then tossed them into the nearby bin. “I swear, you and Goldie are gonna kill us one of these days. You know he broke Mike’s chair the other day?”

“I thought it looked different.” Freddy muttered thoughtfully.

“We managed to fix it, but Mike can’t lean back in it anymore.”

“I’ll buy a new one next chance I get. Goldie’s usually so careful…”

“Well, y’know what he’s like around Mike.” He chuckled as he returned to the sink, “I think ya got some competition, Freddy.”

Freddy frowned and inwardly scoffed. Nobody was closer to Goldie than he was. They were brothers, after all. He picked up another plate and made the effort to go softer this time. All this talk about his own strength and his _brother’s_ relationships, he’d almost forgotten what he was here to do. Almost. “So…listen, Bonnie.”

“Hm?”

“We’ve known each other for…a long time, haven’t we?”

“Ever since we were kids!” Bonnie confirmed. He still remembered being introduced to the little bear anima by his cousin. How shy Freddy had been back then, hiding behind his big brother’s legs and peeking out only when he was sure he wasn’t being looked at. It was funny to think that that little boy had grown up into the man standing beside him.

“Right. Uh - and we’ve been through a lot together.”

“Sure have.”

“Yeah. And…we’re…comfortable with each other.”

That could’ve been worded better.

“Huh?” Bonnie raised a brow.

“Well, y’know. We’re…we…We’re in a relationship.”

“Uh-huh.”

“So we’re comfortable with each other.”

“Sure. Freddy, I’m not really catching what you’re throwing at me…?”

Freddy bit his lip. _C’mon, Fazbear!_ “Uh…look, I wanted to ask you something -” He froze when Bonnie placed a hand over his. The suds on Bonnie’s skin didn’t even bother him.

“Don’t be nervous, Freddy.” Bonnie said gently. He knew his bear; he could tell when he was nervous. “You can ask me anything, you know that.”

Freddy looked Bonnie’s face over. The look in his eyes was so sincere and gentle that Freddy found himself forgetting his words and slight upturn of his lips made the bear anima’s heart beat faster and faster. Freddy gulped, feeling the tips of his ears beginning to burn (all _four_ of them!). What was it he was asking again? “Uh…do you want to…?”

Bonnie tilted his head.

“Do you think…?”

Blink, blink went those big, magenta eyes.

“Would you like to…?”

Twitch, twitch went those purple bunny ears.

“…teach me how to play guitar?”

“Huh?” Bonnie leaned back, startled. _That_ was what Freddy was trying to ask him?

“Uh - yeah. I’ve noticed lately that, uh, I should try learning how to play _something._ For the band, you know?” Freddy rambled, “So…think you could…?”

Bonnie stared at his partner for a second, then released his hand, “Sure, Freddy. I guess I could. Never taught anybody before, but…I’ll take a whack at it.”

“Really?! Thanks, Bonnie!” Freddy faked delight.

“You’re welcome, Freddo.” Bonnie grabbed the nearest towel to him and wiped his own hands dry, “Welp, dishes are done. Kids barely ate today, did ya notice? Too busy looking for those eggs!” He chuckled, then leaned up to Freddy and pecked his cheek. “I’ll be heading home, then! See you tomorrow, huh, Freddy?”

“R-Right…”

“We’ll sort out a time for those lessons too.” The rabbit man gave Freddy a hug, which Freddy returned hesitantly. His face was the picture of shame over Bonnie’s shoulder, until the guitarist broke the hug. He pecked Freddy’s lips this time, then smiled, “G’night, Freddy!”

“Night…” With that, Bonnie left the bear anima on his own to drown in his shame. Freddy waited until he was certain the door had shut behind the bunny before he whipped around to the fridge and continuously hit his head against the door. _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ How could he be such a coward?! Freddy Fazbear - _the_ Freddy Fazbear - had just chickened out on asking a simple question! A _simple question!_ It was inconceivable that he was taking so long and…it was just so stupid! _He_ was so stupid!

_HOW HARD COULD IT BE TO ASK BONNIE TO MOVE IN WITH HIM?!_

Freddy finally stopped his constant skull-thumping to sigh angrily. He raised his head, then jolted at the large dent made in the metal door. “Oh…oops…” He really did need to watch his strength around here…

With another sigh, Freddy turned and left the kitchen without drying the rest of the dishes. When he returned to the dining area, he paused when he found Bonnie hadn’t left just yet. The rabbit anima was standing with their fellow entertainers over at the table farthest from the singer, where Goldie sat. Chica sat opposite the blond man, hands hovering over three red plastics cups, “Okay, Goldie.” She waved something in his face that Freddy couldn’t quite identify, though he had a good idea of what it was. “One more time. Keep your eyes on the prize.”

Goldie nodded, giving Chica the permission she needed to get started. She lifted the middle cup, threw the prize under, then hastily started swapping the cups around in a random order. Goldie, Bonnie and Foxy all had their eyes trained on them, trying to keep sight of the winner, though it was tricky. The cups were mere blurs of red as Chica changed their positions; the curiosity made Freddy walk over to them. Chica let go of the cups when she was satisfied and certain she had mixed them up, then placed her own hands on the table. “You get that, Goldie?” He gave a slow nod. “Which cup?”

The entertainers all watched as Goldie’s eyes looked over each cup as though he could see through them. One of his large hands lifted from the table, hovered in the air for a moment, then gently poked the left cup with one finger. Chica reached over, smirking in expectant triumph, and lifted the chosen cup. Ultimately, her smirk dropped and Goldie’s own lips shot up into a pleased smile as he collected the small candy. Chica took a step back, inspected the cup, then looked to the older Fazbear as he unwrapped the caramel, “How’re you _doing that?!”_

Bonnie chuckled on her right, wagging a finger at her as Goldie plopped the caramel onto his tongue and happily chewed on it. “You can’t fool Goldie, Chica.” Bonnie chided teasingly, “Everyone knows that.”

“Aye, lass, the rabbit be right,” Foxy added, picking the cups up and placing them back on the tray he was holding, “No use trying ta beat ol’ Goldie at ‘is own game.”

Chica gave a small growl in her irritation and looked to Goldie, who offered her nothing but a cute smile. It softened Chica up enough that she smiled at the bear opposite her. “Alright, Goldie, you win…Good eye, I guess.” Goldie gave her a thumbs up in thanks.

“You know he’s not allowed caramel, right?” Freddy spoke up. The entertainers turned to him, “Makes him hyper.”

“Yeah,” Bonnie replied, moving around to stand behind the older Fazbear and pointing two index fingers at his face, “but look how happy he is! It’s worth it.”

“Not when you live above him.” Freddy cast a glance at his big brother’s face. “Or _under_ him, for that matter. We already had to apologise to the lady living in the apartment below Goldie last week. Right, brother?” Goldie gave a sad nod.

“Gosh,” Chica put her hands to her hips as she turned to the younger brother, “you’re acting like _you’re_ the older brother here! Goldie,” she turned back to the blond, “stand up to him!” Goldie stood up from his chair abruptly, almost knocking it over. Foxy and Bonnie hurried to secure it as Chica smiled awkwardly, “Not what that means…”

“I don’t act like that!” Freddy looked to Goldie, “Goldie, do I act like that?!”

Goldie looked to him, then looked to Chica. Both were staring at him, determined frowns on their faces as they wished to prove their points to each other. They would only need his say, though he, quite frankly, didn’t have one. Freddy’s behaviour toward him didn’t bother him in the slightest, but he couldn’t say that. Chica looked so determined… Unsure of what to do, Goldie held up his hands and shook his head, taking a step back. He wanted no part of this.

“It’s okay, Goldie. You can tell him how you feel.” Chica said gently, then shot a cold look over her shoulder at Freddy, “Unlike _some_ people around here.”

Freddy felt his face heat up as his frown deepened. Bonnie raised a brow, “What’s that mean?”

 _“Well,_ Bonnie,” Chica started; Freddy silently pleaded she wouldn’t say anything, “I _could_ tell you, but it’s kinda Freddy’s role.”

Bonnie looked to Freddy expectantly, “Freddy?”

“Uh - it’s not important. A talk for another day.” Freddy waved a hand dismissively. Bonnie opened his mouth to respond, though a new voice interrupted them.

“The hell’s going on here?”

Goldie suddenly darted away in a blur of yellow and dark blue toward the source, while Freddy‘s frown almost turned into a scowl. The man in the doorway, dressed in the same uniform as their phone operator, gave a small smile at Goldie as the bear anima stopped in front of him. “Hey, big guy. You been eating caramel again?” Goldie nodded twice. “Damn. We’re all in hell now, huh?”

Goldie practically vibrated on the spot (sugar had kicked in; they were all in for a treat…) and suddenly stuck his hands underneath the man’s armpits, lifting him up into the air like a happy parent and their child, “Woah, shit! Goldie! Fucking hell! You’re gonna break my spine one of these days - Jesus!”

Foxy and Bonnie cast worried looks at Freddy as the younger bear growled. The singer gave no warning before finding his feet and storming over to the human in his brother’s hands. He heard Bonnie mutter his name warningly, but ignored him, “Mike Schmidt.” He snapped angrily. Goldie gently put down the security guard.

Mike Schmidt had been hired by Freddy Fazbear almost a year ago on a whim. After all, Freddy had first met Mike when he was fresh out of prison and still pissed off that he’d been put in at all. Despite the aggressive behaviour Mike displayed, particularly when Freddy first spoke to him, the bear anima had had utter faith that this was the security guard he was looking for. A mean right hook, a tongue that could make a sailor cry and a look that told everyone to back off, Mike Schmidt was not one to be messed with - precisely what Freddy had wanted. What he _hadn’t_ wanted, however, was someone who barely turned up to work. Mike frowned at Freddy, blue eyes daring him to tell him off, and Freddy’s own blue eyes hardened into a glare, “Where’ve you been?”

“Home.” Mike said without hesitation.

“You’re _supposed_ to be here! It’s why I hired you, Mike! Afternoons and nights - you’re supposed to be _here!”_

“Oh, lay off!” Mike exclaimed, exasperated with this conversation already. “Why can’t you be more like him?” He gestured to Goldie, “Doesn’t _speak.”_

“Don’t joke about that!”

“Who’s joking? I’d honestly love it if you were mute.”

“Mike…” Bonnie muttered.

Freddy bared his sharp canines. He didn’t like using his animal features to intimidate people, but - damn it, Mike was pushing it! “Mike, I don’t want to do this, but if you’re not on time tomorrow, then I’ll -”

“What? Hand me a pink slip? Fuck off. You might be fat, Fazfuck, but you don’t have the _guts_ to fire someone.” The brunet replied, jabbing a finger in the direction of Freddy’s stomach almost mockingly. Freddy felt his bear ears droop. He was right there. He didn’t like firing people; simply didn’t like it. And Mike was so good at his job (when he was here, anyways)…it’d be a shame to let him go. Goldie liked him so much too.

With no response from Freddy, Mike was free to go. He went to walk around him when his hat was lifted from his head. Mike went to threaten whoever had taken it when a large hand was placing onto the top of his head, pressing his quiff down. Goldie patted Mike’s head lightly, being extremely careful not to crush Mike’s skull with his strength. _That_ would suck. When he was finished with his patting, he lifted Mike’s hat up and, while sticking his tongue out in concentration, gently settled it on the security guard’s quiff. Mike stared at him, then chuckled and set his hat right. Goldie smiled in return, then put a finger up to halt Mike further. He dug a hand into his trouser pocket and brought out his fist, then opened it to show a collection of coins to Mike, who immediately frowned. “Goldie, _no.”_ Goldie’s smile dropped and he held his hand out again; Mike’s eyes flashed with anger, _“No.”_

Freddy watched in silent bafflement as Goldie pouted, setting the coins back into his pocket. What on earth was his brother doing? Collecting coins now? Wouldn’t surprise him.

Mike bypassed them, waving a hand in the direction of the entertainers as he did so. Chica was the only one who waved back, doing so enthusiastically. Perhaps too much; Foxy cast a strange look at her and she shrugged at him. Mike stalked down the left hallway and swung into the office. His co-worker looked up from where he was packing his cap into his satchel, “Hello, hello! There you are, Junior! Nice to see you!”

Mike opened his mouth to respond, only to freeze. Shit…what was this guy’s name again…? _Uh…_ “You too…” _Think! Think! Think! Stephen? Nah, that’s the guy at the station. Oh, crap, what is it?!_ “…Phone Guy…”

Green eyes blinked once in surprise, then lips upturned into a smile, “’Phone Guy’? Haha! I like that.” ‘Phone Guy’ as he was now called - as far as Mike was concerned - picked the tablet up from his desk and handed it to Mike, “Here ya go! Kept an eye on things for you. Oh, and Goldie was looking for you.”

“Yeah.” Mike settled into his chair, taking the tablet from his colleague. What a weirdo; ‘Phone Guy’. Pfft. “Just saw ‘im.”

“Alright, then.” Phone Guy tucked his own chair in, then settled his satchel onto his shoulder, “Well, I better be going. I’ll chat with you tomorrow. Goodnight!” He patted Mike’s shoulder as he passed him, then offered a wave as he left.

Mike watched him go, then shook his head, “Weirdo…”

Outside, Freddy had taken to standing by the window. He very often did this, both before opening and after closing. He simply found it relaxing to stand by the window and watch the world go by. Considering Mike’s attitude, he certainly did need to relax, though he unfortunately found that, no matter how much he stared at the abandoned building across the street, his irritation wouldn’t go away. Freddy sighed, just as Bonnie walked to his side and hugged his arm sympathetically. Freddy looked to Bonnie, then smiled and placed a hand over his.

Behind them, Foxy twisted his hook until it popped off, then he reached deep into his red coat. After a moment of digging around, he pulled out a metal hand and twisted it into the place his hook had just been in. As it locked into place, the pieces all lined up like a jigsaw puzzle, metal clicked and slid together; Foxy rotated his wrist to check if it worked, then flexed his fingers. With that done, he shifted his arm out of his coat’s sleeve, then rolled up the shirt’s to reveal his right arm, the skin of which was paler than the rest of his body.

There was a good reason for that.

Without second thought, Foxy dug the fingertips of his left hand into his right bicep and ripped the skin off. It came away as easily as tearing paper; the rubber-like material breaking with little to no force. Foxy’s prosthetic arm - fully operated; fluid movement - gleamed under the light of the room. Using his teeth, he took off the glove on his left hand, then ripped the skin off of that too. Only the hand was metallic on this limb.

“You shouldn’t do that, y’know.” Chica spoke up as she watched him, “Should preserve it. Fake skin doesn’t grow on trees, y’know.” “Actually,” Phone Guy spoke up as he entered the room, “one of the ingredients in Foxy’s fake skin is sap, which is in trees. So…technically, it does.” Chica frowned deeply at him; Phone Guy grinned sheepishly.

“Scott be right, lass.” Foxy stretched his arm and rotated his wrist to check both were working properly, then he flexed his legs. He didn’t bother putting fake skin on them; his boots covered them just fine. The customers didn’t suspect a thing. Foxy’s one eye looked to Phone Guy, “Ye be wanting a ride home, Scott?”

“No, no, Foxy, it’s fine.” Phone Guy waved a hand at his friend. The two had been best friends since high school; their bond hadn’t changed a bit. “Car’s out back.”

“Ye never want to ride on m‘ ship…”

“You know I don’t like motorcycles. They freak me out.”

“Perfectly safe, Scott.”

“I prefer vehicles with windows.”

Foxy rolled his one eye, smiling all the same, and the two shared a friendly hug. Phone Guy broke the hug first, waving goodbye to each of them before leaving the building to get to his car. Bonnie pecked Freddy’s cheek one more time before following Phone Guy out. Freddy watched him go, then went back to staring out of the window.

He really did need to do something about Mike. Freddy really didn’t want to fire him; no way. He hated firing employees, especially those _good_ at their jobs. Perhaps he could get Goldie to have a word with him. Mike seemed to listen to Goldie above him; he’d always liked Goldie better. Freddy had to ask his brother how he did it because, no matter what Freddy did, Mike never wanted to be friends with him. Never even smiled at him, except when Freddy had explained his job to him. Where was that Mike? That Mike had turned up on time everyday and hadn’t given him lip. He’d ask Phone Guy too; just in case Mike mentioned anything. For now, Freddy would have to deal with the fact he was Mike’s least favourite person in this restaurant. He’d also have to try and ignore those eyes staring at him from the abandoned building across the street because it was getting kind of creepy. Oh, and he’d also have to get over how cowardly he was with Bonnie because _that_ was getting tiresome.

…Wait.

…Eyes?

Freddy snapped back to reality quick enough to spot a head ducking down from the window. The bear anima shook his head, rubbed his eyes then peered again. The eyes weren’t there. He pressed himself to the window to try and see better in the darkness. No, still nothing.

“Fazbear? What ye be doin’, lad?” Foxy spoke up upon noticing the bear.

“Did you see someone over there?” Freddy peeled himself off of the window and pointed to the place he’d seen the eyes.

Foxy shook his head as Chica joined them again, her bag strapped to her back, “That building’s been abandoned since you bought this place, Freddy. No one’s over there.”

Freddy glanced over to the spot again as Goldie stepped to his side, “Did you see anything, brother?” Goldie shook his head.

“Yer probably tired, Fazbear.”

“Foxy’s right. Go home and get some rest.”

Freddy watched the spot for a moment, anticipating the eyes’ return, then sighed and rubbed his face. “…You’re right. It’s been a long day. Gotta be that.” He nodded once, then cocked his head toward the doorway in a gesture for them to leave, as well as a sign for Goldie to follow. “C’mon, brother. Let’s go.”

…

The drive to the apartment building in which the brothers lived wasn’t long, which was a relief for the elder Fazbear. As they had entered the car, Freddy had given his brother an awkward glance, then stated, “I’m gonna look into buying a new car. You know, one that you can fit in.”

Goldie had nodded the best he could with his knees pressed to his chest like that, giving his brother a deadpanned thumbs up.

The old car was parked on the street outside and, after finally managing to pull Goldie out of the passenger seat, the brothers retreated inside. Despite what they had initially wanted, the brothers lived in separate apartments on two different floors. They had been lucky enough to get the two that were connected through ceiling and floor, thus they weren’t too far. It’d all been much easier when they’d lived in the mansion they used to own, but being too reckless with their money had landed them in financial error. The mansion had had to be sold and the two were forced to move in here. Could be worse, they supposed. They could be living in cardboard boxes on the street (pfft. As if any box could house Goldie).

The siblings separated on the third floor, where Goldie’s apartment was located. The brothers waved each other their goodnights and Goldie let himself into his home, with Freddy being left to ascend one more floor to his own apartment. In his tiredness, he’d almost tried to open the door with his car key, groaning when he realised his mistake and selecting the right key. The apartment itself wasn’t that bad. A decent sized living room, complete with a sofa, a coffee table, a TV, a desk and several bookcases and shelves. Freddy took off his top hat and placed it on the coffee table, then settled himself at his desk. Reclining, he did what he always did at the end of the day: he reflected.

All in all, his restaurant was doing just fine. The kids loved it, as did the adults, and that was all that really mattered to Freddy. The fact that it was keeping him out of the financial dirt was a bonus. After all, this whole idea had stemmed off of the old diner his big brother had once owned. Freddy’s lips fell at that thought.

He’d been but a child when Goldie had his own restaurant. A naïve little kid who had no idea what one little incident would do to him and his big brother. Freddy had chosen to let go of his memories of Bonnie’s cousin; Goldie’s ex-best friend. He’d barely liked the guy when he was a kid; there was always something off about him. Something about him that no children’s entertainer should have. Freddy had often found himself hiding behind Goldie’s legs whenever the older rabbit anima was too close for his liking. Goldie had always found it funny and would lift Freddy into his arms to try and encourage interaction; Freddy would merely hide his face in his brother’s neck.

Come to think of it, Freddy hadn’t seen him since…the incident.

He could hardly remember what happened. One moment, everything was fine and Freddy was helping Bonnie arrange decorations for a birthday party. The next, his big brother and Bonnie’s cousin had black eyes and were collecting their respective relative to themselves, as though they had both threatened to harm them. Goldie would never harm anyone, Freddy knew. He wouldn’t put it passed the rabbit anima, though. Freddy did, however, remember being scared of his brother in that moment; even more so when he was suddenly dropped and Goldie…attacked.

No, no, he hadn’t. Bonnie’s cousin had attacked first. Goldie was defending himself.

The memory was hazy then. He remembered Bonnie crying, he remembered hiding under a table with the boy and holding his hand to soothe him, he remembered gingerly calling out for his big brother for help because he was _scared_ and he wanted his big brother. He remembered growling and roaring and scratching noises and howls of pain and chairs being thrown.

Then silence. Footsteps. Bonnie was suddenly grabbed from under the table, screaming as he was pulled out of their hiding place. Freddy had tried to rescue him, only to find it had been his cousin that had done so. The rabbit had growled at Freddy briefly, then left the restaurant without another word, taking little Bonnie with him.

Freddy had crawled out by then. Goldie had been slumped nearby, his eyes still black, blood on his suit and his hair messy and sweat-soaked. Despite his appearance, Freddy hadn’t been afraid and he’d run into his arms without a second thought. He’d asked if he was still allowed to see Bonnie; Goldie hadn’t answered. Because he couldn’t.

Whatever that bastard had done was still unknown to Freddy. Goldie had been rendered been mute ever since; his voice was gone completely.

That had been when Freddy was seven; over twenty years had gone by and there was no hope of ever hearing his brother speak again nor seeing his normal eyes. Goldie was different, but he was still Freddy’s big brother. They’d been side by side ever since Freddy had been born. There were no brothers closer than the Fazbear duo.

Freddy sighed as he came back to reality, rubbing his face again. He had to stop thinking about that time. It was over; his restaurant was booming with business, he had friends and his childhood crush was back with him; this time, he was reciprocating his feelings. Freddy let out an idle chuckle. He’d liked Bonnie ever since he first saw him; Bonnie had only seen Freddy as a pal back then. It wasn’t until Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza was up and running that the two had actually done anything about courting each other.

Ah. Good times.

Freddy’s thoughts were broken when he heard four rhythmic thumps coming from his floor. Goldie was sending his message.

_Goodnight, brother._

Freddy stomped his foot against the floor four times to send a message back, being careful not to break a hole in the floor (only made that mistake once).

_Goodnight, brother._


	2. Everything's Seeming Slightly Strange

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a world where some humans are born with animal characteristics, only one restaurant stood based upon this new kind of human…well. Until the place across the street opened up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: humanised characters, swearing, some slight adult themes here and there.
> 
> Now, the reason this chapter is so late coming out is because of the release of the fourth game. I wanted to know the ending before I continued with this story in case it ruined any plans for this story. It…actually hasn't. So, that's good!
> 
> Also, I'll tell you guys what I told readers of Close Calls: I'm officially back on my Tumblr (I was taking a little break before), if any of you wanna follow me on there. For personal reasons, I'm not posting the link on my profile, but I'd be more than glad to give ya the link via messaging!
> 
> Alright, on with the story!

Freddy Fazbear's Pizza opened early in the morning; far too early for any kids to show up. The sun had barely begun to rise when Freddy awakened to get up and open his restaurant, knowing full-well that Goldie was doing the same. They were always the first to go to the restaurant in the mornings; they had the keys, after all. They also tended to be the first to even be out on the streets at this time of day.

What could they say? They were early bears.

Upon arriving at the restaurant, Freddy would always unlock all the doors and let he and his brother in, then go straight for the coffee machine in the entertainer's room. Said room was located near the stage, hidden behind a door marked EMPLOYEES ONLY. It was a simple little room, just a lounge for the entertainers when they wanted a break, but any of their employees were welcome in there. Freddy would pick his mug - brown with teddy bears on - up from the rack, pour himself a cup of joe and then leave to stand in front of the old window. It was mere routine by this point; he was sure Goldie was already investigating the office to check if Mike was okay. One would question why Freddy even had a night guard at a family pizzeria; he was simply that paranoid. After all, he seen and experienced pretty much all the woes of running a restaurant when Goldie's diner had been around; didn't hurt to be prepared.

Freddy sipped his coffee as he stared out the window. The abandoned building across the street looked the same as ever and, no matter how hard Freddy peered at the window in the front, there was no pair of eyes this time. He toyed with the idea that it really had been just his imagination. He'd been tired, it would make sense. Freddy gave a shrug as his early morning routine went on as normal.

Or…didn't.

Minutes after that very thought, a figure turned up across the street. Freddy hadn't paid it much mind at first, blindly missing where it had even come from, but it had caught his attention when it paused in front of the abandoned building. Freddy stared intently. Whoever they were, they had to be a child; too short not to be. Scrawny too. They had their back to Freddy, so he couldn't identify a face and the hoodie they wore blocked their head from proper view. All he could see were rabbit ears. They were blue.

Freddy tilted his head. An anima kid all on their own, this early in the morning? His natural fatherly instinct kicked in and he set his mug down on the windowsill, moving to the door to go and investigate. He knew some people still didn't like animas and still didn't accept them as part of 'their' society, so there was a large chance this kid had been kicked out of their home or something.

Well, Freddy would have none of that.

One hand on the door handle, he pushed it open, only to freeze when a honk echoed from down the street, alarming the anima kid. A van that had probably once been white but was now grey and grease-stained came driving up the street, stopping just beside the kid on the kerb. Freddy felt a jolt of panic go through him as he expected the worst, pausing on the spot. The door opened and the driver got out; a tall and lanky man with a hoodie just like the kid's, only he didn't have his hood pulled up. His dark brown dreadlocks were pulled back into a ponytail and his skin was prominently brown, but had patches of white skin on his nose, chin and left of his forehead. Freddy squinted to see if he was imagining it, but the man had already turned his back to him. The bear anima stayed in the doorway of his own restaurant, waiting for something to happen between them. Luckily for him, something did.

"What d'ya think?" The kid asked. Judging by their voice, they were a boy.

"Looks good." The man nodded, "Lick o' paint is what it needs, s'all."

The boy looked up at him, "Think you can do something with it?"

"Heck, man, I can sure try. It's got potential, definitely."

"But do you think it can make it? Bring in business and everything?"

Freddy raised a brow at that. What kind of business would a child have with an abandoned building? With this guy, no less? All too strange for his liking; he strained his four ears to hear more.

"Sure thing, little man. With you and the team, you'll be getting people in no time!"

"Aw, thanks." The two fist-bumped. Freddy's eyes narrowed lightly. "Awesome!" The boy bounced on the balls of his feet, "I can't believe this is happening! The guys are gonna be so  _happy!_ "

"C'mon," the man cocked his head to his van with a grin, "I'll give ya a ride to go and meet 'em. Sort out some stuff - oh. Speaking of which…" He folded his arms, "You got it?"

"Uh-huh." The boy reached into his pocket and brought out a small paper bag. He held it out to the man, who took it and peered inside. Freddy blinked several times. What on earth was happening here?!

"Awesome, little man." He patted the boy's head, earning a delighted giggle. " _Now_  we can get on outta here!"

"Rad." The boy chirped, following as his companion turned back to the van. He opened the door on the passenger's side, "We gotta hurry, though. My big sister is probably wonderin' where I am, y'know."

"Gotcha, little man."

And, just like that, they were driving off down the street in that beat up old van, unknowingly leaving a confused and very concerned Freddy Fazbear. He hadn't had a chance to take down the license plate of the van, so no hope of tracking them was to be involved, and he considered his options. That child seemed perfectly comfortable with the man and appeared to have planned everything that had happened, so Freddy supposed he shouldn't jump to conclusions so quickly. But the fact that the boy had delivered 'the stuff' to the man and that van looking so unsafe…Freddy didn't like it one bit. His face fixed itself into a frown. The two had talked of a 'business' they had with that old building; that meant they'd be back. When they did return, Freddy would be there. He wouldn't take the boy away from the man, per se, just in case they were on a friendlier level. But he would  _definitely_ be asking questions. A child's safety had been Freddy's top priority since he'd opened Freddy Fazbear's Pizza; there was no way he was just ignoring this -  _especially_ since this was an  _anima_ child. Animas had to stick together, y'know.

A tap on his shoulder alerted him to the other presence in the room. Freddy whipped around, then calmed immediately, "Goldie."

Goldie stood just behind his brother's shoulder, brow furrowed. He gestured behind him with a thumb, then cocked his head to the side and rested his palm against his cheek.

"Mike's asleep." Freddy read his brother's gestures; Goldie nodded in confirmation. Freddy sighed. Ah, yes. That had been the other thing. Mike. Freddy was going to have to do something about this. He very often found Mike doing  _something_ that he wasn't supposed to be doing in the mornings. He'd found him smoking, messing with the party hats on the tables, hiding Chica's cupcake in random spots, changing the posters on the walls around. You name it, Mike had done it. Freddy shook his head;  _sleeping_ was a new one. "Can't believe this…"

Goldie's brow furrowed even more. He knew exactly what his brother was thinking about and he dreaded even the mention of it. Mike couldn't leave this place! He couldn't be fired! He liked Mike! Mike was one of the  _two_ adult humans that Goldie actually  _trusted!_ How often did that happen?! It  _didn't -_ THAT WAS THE POINT! Goldie went to sign something else to his brother when a red car drove passed. The two watched it turn the corner to park in the restaurant's car park; a door opened and closed, footsteps, then Phone Guy was in view. "Hello, hello, you two!"

"Morning, Scott." Freddy held out a hand, which Phone Guy shook fondly.

The blond raised a brow at them both, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Freddy gave a small sigh. He wasn't up to talking about Mike right now, nor was he particularly interested in sharing the tale of the anima boy. "Just…mornings, y'know?"

"Oh, I know." Phone Guy nodded with a smile of a total morning person. Pfft. He knew nothing. "You have my sympathy." He gave another nod and shimmied passed them to go to his post in the office.

Goldie went to follow him, but paused when Freddy muttered his name. The blond turned back to his brother, leaning down to his height to hear what he had to say. Freddy was frowning considerably hard; he glanced at his big brother, then cocked his head to the building across the street, "Y'see that place there?" Goldie nodded. "I want you to keep a close eye on it, brother. Something's going on over there and I'm not sure I like it…A van was there earlier, all beat up…I just don't like it…"

Goldie looked sideways to his sibling. That building had been busted up ever since Freddy had bought this place in order to turn it into Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. Goldie couldn't remember if it had ever been a relevant establishment or if it'd simply been a random house. Either way, it hadn't concerned him, so he hadn't thought about it. A part of him accused his brother of being paranoid, but Freddy seemed pretty serious, so he gave him a stern nod of confirmation that, yes, he would watch that building. Goldie's eyes may have turned black all those years ago, but that didn't mean he was blind. Characteristics of a bear, fine, but he might as well have had hawk eyes. Freddy gave Goldie a nod back as a silent thanks, then the two got to work.

Phone Guy, on the other hand, had no such concerns as he made his way down the west hallway. Like Goldie had done the day before, he looked up at the camera positioned on the wall. The little red light wasn't on; Mike wasn't checking this one. Maybe he was having a look-see at another camera? Or maybe he was getting ready to go home? Perhaps. Phone Guy would've been, in his position. He'd worked the night shift a lot before Freddy had hired Mike; he understood the woes of staying in one spot the whole night. The blond turned into the office, "Good morning, M - Oh."

Mike was slumped in his chair, one elbow resting on the left armrest and his head supported by his hand. The tablet was held loosely in his right hand, perched precariously on his knee. He was fast asleep, a thin trail of drool seeping from his mouth and down his arm, where it was absorbed by his rolled-up sleeve. Phone Guy blinked twice, then made his way over. Mike had never fallen asleep on the job before, it kind of concerned him. The older man stood over Mike, contemplating the best way of waking him up. Freddy would be so annoyed to know that Mike had fallen asleep while at his shift and  _Mike_ would probably be pretty pissed to be woken up. Phone Guy had seen the height of his temper; he didn't want to push it. Not that he thought Mike was a bad guy at all; in fact, he rather enjoyed Mike's company. The crude behaviour that pushed others away was a source of amusement for Phone Guy. Mike's swearing, anger bouts and general unpleasantness hadn't bothered him in the slightest, especially since he'd met Mike as soon as Freddy had brought him in. Phone Guy had even taught him how to work the shift; they'd spent a decent amount of time together. And a nickname! Mike had given him a  _nickname!_ Alright, it was because he'd forgotten his name (which Phone Guy took no offence to), but still. They had to be pals by now, right?

"Mike." Phone Guy muttered gently. "Mike…" He leaned down to be heard better, then paused. On Mike's skin were very faint, barely noticeable trails. Phone Guy squinted to see if it was simply a trick of the light, then looked to Mike's eyes. A few of the lashes were stuck together. A quick once-over of the sleeping man showed him the small stains on his trousers. Phone Guy's brow creased worriedly, eyes travelling back to Mike's face.

And then Mike woke up.

Blue eyes were immediately looking into large, green ones and Mike screamed "OH - SHIT!" and flew back in his chair. Of course, thanks to some unwanted help from Goldie (thanks, Goldie), the back of the chair snapped off immediately. Mike flew straight to the floor, hitting his head painfully on the tiles, his legs up in the air. Phone Guy watched with wide eyes as this occurred and didn't think to step back to avoid Mike's foot, the toe of which hit him straight in the nose. With a yelp, he stumbled backwards, hands to his nose to try and soothe the pain. Stepping back as he did, two hands gripped him under the armpits as his back hit a wall of muscle - also known as Goldie Fazbear. "Oh…Oh, thanks, Goldie…Ow…"

Goldie tilted his head silently, lifting Phone Guy slightly to set him on his feet properly. The blond bear anima looked his human friend up-and-down worriedly. He lifted his own left arm and lightly smacked the wrist, then pointed to Phone Guy's nose. Phone Guy gave a small nod, "A little, yeah…It's okay, Goldie, I'm fine…I'm alright…"

Goldie then looked over at his other human friend, who was still laying on the floor. His brow creased even more and he signed his question to Phone Guy again. Phone Guy looked over his shoulder at Mike, "Oh, I, uh…I dunno…"

The blond anima bypassed his human friend in favour of going over to Mike, who groaned lightly in pain. Goldie stood over him, stared down at him, then repeated his signed question to him. Mike's eyes were shut, however, so Goldie gave him a tiny,  _extremely_ gentle kick. "What…?" Mike muttered, opening one eye to look up at him. Goldie repeated his signings; Mike frowned, "Oh, no, Gold, I'm fan-fucking-tastic." Goldie tilted his head, then pointed to Mike's mouth. "Yes, it was sarcasm!" Mike yelled. Goldie moved to help him up like he'd done for Phone Guy, but Mike beat him to the punch. He sprung up and glared at Phone Guy, who was silently looking him over for injuries, "What the hell were you  _doing?!_ "

"I…was trying to wake you up…" Phone Guy said awkwardly, dabbing his nostrils to check for blood.

"Well, you succeeded! Congratulations, Phone Guy!" Mike exclaimed sarcastically, clapping his hands in a fake applause.

"Uh…thanks…are you okay?"

"I'm fine!" Mike snatched his hat from the floor and placed it back onto his head. The younger male cast another glance at the older one, glaring in a way that told Phone Guy to back the hell off. "Don't do that  _again._ You understand?"

"Yeah, but…are you ok -"

"I'm  _fine!_ I said that, didn't I?!" Mike snapped. Phone Guy didn't reply, so Mike huffed and turned to go. Goldie went to follow him, but Mike cast both men a glare, "Leave me alone! Both of you!"

The two blonds watched the brunet leave the room, then looked to each other silently. The silence was broken when they heard Freddy attempt to stop Mike for a "little chat", but Mike had obviously shoved passed him with an exclamation of "I don't wanna talk to you!". A distant door slamming cut off any other attempt Freddy made; Mike was gone.

Phone Guy's brow furrowed. Seconds later, Freddy came storming into the office. He took one look at Phone Guy before frowning, "What happened?"

"I was…just waking him up…" Phone Guy said awkwardly, taking his hand away from his nose. He looked to Goldie, "Am I bleeding?" Goldie shook his head and Phone Guy sighed in relief.

Freddy looked to the ruined chair, then cast an accusing glance at his big brother, "So that's what you did…" Goldie gave him a sheepish grin and a shrug. What? He hadn't meant to break it! He'd just…wanted Mike's attention and accidentally pulled his chair apart…! That was all!

Freddy gave a sigh and shook his head, then turned back to the other blond in the room. He paused, faltered then tilted his head at Phone Guy's expression. The man was staring at the doorway where Mike had left, his brow creased in the picture of worry. "What's the matter, Scott?"

Phone Guy didn't look at him for a moment. He hesitated mentioning it to Freddy, since he knew how much Mike liked to hide his personal life from those at work - especially the boss. For whatever reason, it'd been Freddy that Mike had turned against so quickly when he started missing work and snapping at people. Phone Guy had never understood it; Freddy had given Mike a chance when no one else had. He should be grateful. Besides, Freddy cared about Mike nonetheless; it seemed right to tell him of his discovery. So, Phone Guy looked to Freddy, concern in his green eyes, "…He's been crying…"

Freddy's frown dropped immediately. As a man with a (literal) big heart and concern for others' well-being, hearing that Mike Schmidt - a man with such a harsh face and an even harsher attitude - was  _crying…_ No matter how badly he'd treated Freddy, it worried the bear anima a lot. He opened his mouth to ask a question or offer up a plan, but another voice cut him off.

"Freddy? Freddy…! Where are ya?"

Freddy's bear ears twitched at the sound of his partner's voice. He glanced at the two blonds with a look that told them they'd sort this out later, then he turned and made his way down the corridor. Out in the main dining area was Bonnie, his back to him and rabbit ears twitching in an attempt to hear some noise that would tell him where his partner was. Freddy forced himself to look a bit cheerier before he cleared his throat. Bonnie's rabbit ears shot up in surprise. "Uh - right here, Bonnie…"

Bonnie whipped around to him, a huge smile immediately springing up on his face, " _Freddy!_ I missed you!" The rabbit anima bounded over and threw his arms around the bear anima, who chuckled and wrapped his strong arms around him. If Freddy hadn't been part bear, Bonnie would've probably knocked him over.

"Missed me? You saw me yesterday!" Freddy grinned.

"I know! I just missed ya, Freddy-bear!" Bonnie raised his head from Freddy's shoulder and grinned at him, then pressed kisses to Freddy's face repeatedly; around the eyes, on the nose and on his cheeks.

Freddy chuckled louder with each kiss pressed to his skin; Bonnie's lips were light like a butterfly's wing. They tickled a little. Trust Bonnie to cheer him up on such a glum morning; his bunny really was the best medicine for a bad mood. Sometimes, Freddy swore Bonnie had a sixth sense when it came to his moods; the purple-haired man always seemed to know when Freddy was gloomy and needed cheering up. Maybe this was why he was kissing him so much now. Maybe he'd sensed his bear wasn't doing so great and decided to give him the cure. Or maybe Bonnie was just being his normal, affectionate self. Whatever the reason, Freddy was glad for it. The bear leaned back from Bonnie, earning a confused blink, then he pulled the rabbit back to himself to press his own kisses to Bonnie's jaw line, "Your turn."

"Freddy…!" Bonnie squealed as Freddy pressed kisses across the bunny man's jaw. The kisses were warm and firm, though with a certain gentleness that told him Freddy was trying his hardest not to let any of his weird bear strength ruin this.

"Gosh!"

Freddy froze, his lips to Bonnie's chin and his blue eyes wide open, as Chica had just entered the restaurant. Hands on hips and frown on her face, Chica gave them a exasperated look, "You guys are so  _lame!_ "

"Pfft." Freddy leaned back from his rabbit, "Says  _you._ " He gave her a smirk, then kissed Bonnie gently on the lips.

" _Ugh!_ " Chica pretended to retch, just as Goldie walked in. The blond looked to her, ears twitching, then wandered over, apparently not even noticing his brother and his old friend. Goldie tilted his head at her, brow creasing worriedly, then gently rubbed her back to coax the puke out of her. She jolted in surprise, giving a small yelp as she stumbled away, then chuckled awkwardly, "Oh, gosh…No, no, Goldie, I'm fine, don't worry…" Goldie pointed at her mouth. "Nah, I was just pretending. I mean," she frowned again, "look at them."

Goldie did so. Freddy and Bonnie had moved on from kissing and were now enjoying a cuddle, with Bonnie's head tucked under Freddy's chin. Their tails were wagging enthusiastically. Goldie blinked twice. To be honest, Freddy's behaviour toward Bonnie had never bothered him. He'd expected it, considering what his brother had been like when he was just a child. Chica pretended to retch again and Goldie looked to her, tilted his head, then did the same; looking at her for guidance on how to mime vomiting properly. The two of them barely noticed Bonnie look over Freddy's shoulder until the rabbit had pulled himself out of Freddy's arms and was offering his own to Goldie, "Goldie!"

The blond looked up from his miming, in time for Bonnie to throw his arms around his torso. Goldie stared down at him blankly. "There's my favourite blondie!" Bonnie raised his head and rested his chin against Goldie, eyes sparkling, "How ya been, big guy?" Goldie blinked twice, then smiled cutely at him. Bonnie grinned in return, "D'aw! You're so cute, Goldie!" Goldie raised a hand and very gently patted Bonnie on the head, in the same manner as he had done to Mike the day before.

"Your favourite blondie?" came the voice of Phone Guy, who bypassed them on his way to get some coffee from the entertainer's room. "Bonnie, I'm offended."

"Sorry, Scott!" Bonnie chuckled, "But Goldie's been my favourite since I was little!"

Phone Guy chuckled back as he disappeared into the entertainer's room, leaving Chica the only other blonde to complain, "Well, gee, thanks, Bonnie!"

Bonnie gave an innocent shrug in response. The door opened shortly afterwards and their pirate fox stepped in, motorcycle helmet under one arm. He'd tied his red hair back into a ponytail today; looked rather fetching. Bonnie released Goldie in response, "And there's my favourite redhead! Foxy!" Fox ears twitched at the pitch of Bonnie's voice as the rabbit anima bounded over to him and hugged him in the same manner as he had done with Freddy and Goldie. Foxy was almost knocked over from the sheer force. He awkwardly patted Bonnie's back, chuckling softly.

"Bonnie…yer too much of a mornin' person…" He muttered tiredly.

"Nah!" Bonnie pulled back from the hug, grasping Foxy by the shoulders, "I just like Mondays!"

"Only cause you get to star!" Chica teased; Bonnie turned to her and stuck out his tongue. It was true, though. Mondays were primarily for Bonnie and Chica to play music, dance, sing and to tell jokes and stories. Freddy and Foxy had little contribution to Monday performances and rather spent the day either tending to the restaurant and its various employees or playing with the kids that simply couldn't take that the two were having a break. Besides, Mondays were the start of the week and, naturally, not many children actually turned up. School was important, after all. It was the weekends where business was booming and all four were particularly active. Bonnie and Chica prided themselves in being the first entertainers to perform in the week.

Phone Guy stepped back out of the entertainer's room, red mug clutched in one hand. He sipped his coffee, then idly waved to Foxy, "Morning, buddy."

"Mornin', Scott." Foxy caught sight of the coffee mug in Phone Guy's hand, "Fresh?" Phone Guy nodded and saluted to him with his mug. Foxy breathed a sigh of relief and Freddy held sympathy for him. Bonnie was really the only one able to handle mornings so well; even Goldie and Phone Guy had their issues. Foxy shrugged his bag off of his shoulder, "Scott, be a mate an' help me put on me skin, aye?"

"Of course." Phone Guy moved over to him as Foxy took a seat at a nearby table. He handed the human the bag and slipped his right arm out of its sleeve, pulling his shirt almost completely off. It was enough to reveal his chest.

"Hey," Freddy said warningly, "this is a children's restaurant."

"Nobody's here, Freddy!" Bonnie waved a hand, "Foxy does this all the time - it's not anything we haven't seen before!"

Opening the bag revealed a case, which Phone Guy opened. Inside were sleeves and gloves of fake skin, all a slightly lighter shade than Foxy's real skin. Fortunately, none of the customers had ever noticed the difference due to Foxy concealing them with his sleeve and one glove. Phone Guy put his coffee on the table and picked up a skin sleeve first; there was a clank as Foxy held out his prosthetic for him. The entire arm was gone, right up to the shoulder. That itself had a metal covering for the arm to attach to; nailed right into the skin. God, how painful the operations had been…

Phone Guy scrunched up the skin, then pulled the sleeve over the arm; grunting with the effort. Foxy stayed as still as he possibly could as Phone Guy worked at the skin, pulling it into place and smoothing it in any areas it creased. Only the hand was left uncovered, though that was as planned, so Phone Guy then grabbed a glove from the case and moved to Foxy's left side. Just like with the arm, he pulled on the skin and smoothed it out in places, then nodded and grabbed his mug from the table, "There you go, buddy. Can't even tell now. So, uh, so long as no one notices you don't have fingernails, anyways…"

"Thank ye, Scott." Foxy pulled his shirt back on properly, then collected his bag, "I be goin' plunderin' fer some coffee, then, eh?" He chuckled and ventured into the entertainer's room, fox tail wagging happily.

During the exchange, Freddy had gone back over to his window to stare out, picking up his forgotten coffee. It had gone cold, so he didn't take a sip. Instead, he thought back to earlier. That boy didn't seem to be there against his will, so that was good. He hated for the authorities to get involved (especially since the government were known for being more than a  _bit_ racist; not just against animas either). No, that boy knew what he was doing. Perhaps he'd even arranged the entire thing. Freddy's brow furrowed. A little anima boy getting involved in 'business' and 'stuff'; to be honest, it sounded pretty dangerous. The bear would definitely be getting involved if he felt the need. His fatherly heart swelled with determination. Yeah, there was no way he was letting some poor, innocent kid get into any danger.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt someone lean against his arm. Freddy's bear ears twitched and he turned, only to see Bonnie peeking into his mug. He clearly spotted the lack of steam, as he looked to Freddy with a creased brow, "You didn't drink your coffee…"

"Uh - I know."

"You always drink your coffee."

"Yeah…"

Bonnie looked up at him, "You okay, Freddy? You're acting a little weird…"

Freddy glanced at him, contemplating telling the rabbit anima. The extra help, he supposed, would be useful, but…well, Bonnie could sometimes be so nosy. He'd hate it if the whole surveillance plan of his got ruined. Don't get him wrong, he loved Bonnie to bits, but…well… "Everything's fine. I just…I dunno. Weird morning."

Bonnie pouted and pressed a hand to his forehead, "Hope you're not getting sick…" He pressed his other hand to his own forehead to compare temperatures, "…Ya don't feel any different…maybe we should just keep an eye on ya, huh…?" Freddy wanted to object, but merely sighed and nodded. Bonnie smiled, satisfied, and hugged Freddy's arm, resting his head against the bear's shoulder. Freddy smiled warmly at him, leaning his head on the rabbit's.

Neither noticed Chica staring at them; not even when she turned to look at the left hallway and sighed.

…

As it turns out, the boy didn't return to his spot outside the building. At least, not from what Freddy saw. With so many customers coming in, it wasn't like Freddy ever got a huge chance to stand by a window and watch the world go by. He did, however, notice that Goldie would stand there more often. A quick pat on the back told Goldie he was doing a good job, but even the older Fazbear could get distracted.

And of course that meant he did.

A small tug on his trouser leg was all it took. Goldie had ignored it at first, especially since the van Freddy had spoken of had just turned up. Goldie only got a glimpse of blue bunny ears before his attention went from the window to the culprit of this incessant leg-pulling: a little boy. He wasn't looking up at Goldie, though the bear anima could tell just from the boy's shaking that he was frightened. Goldie tilted his head and watched the boy. For a moment, the bear thought the boy was simply using him to balance himself, considering how tightly he was now holding him, but then the boy patted his hand across Goldie's shin. Goldie raised a brow, perplexed, then the boy raised his head and whimpered, "Mommy?"

Goldie's lips formed an 'o' shape as he immediately understood the situation. His hand went straight to the breast pocket of his coat, where he pulled out a deck of cards. Each one had cursive writing imprinted on them, as well as corresponding small bumps in the material. Goldie crouched down to get to the boy's level (he was still taller than him even now, but whatever) and gently took hold of the boy's wrist. The child didn't say anything, obviously still sceptical on whether Goldie was his mother or not; not even when Goldie gently place the boy's hand on his chin. Goldie then skimmed through his cards, then handed the correct one to the boy. The tiny blond took it, felt the bumps, then tilted his head, "Your name is Goldie?"

Goldie nodded and searched the deck of cards for another, then pushed it into the boy's waiting hand. They traded cards and the boy read the Braille on the new one. "…What does 'mute' mean?" Goldie handed him another card.

_Can't speak. No voice._

"Oh…" He held out a hand for another card when he heard Goldie search the deck, then felt the bumps on this one.

_I'm Freddy Fazbear's brother._

"Freddy has a brother?"

Goldie nodded.

"Are you…his big brother?"

Goldie nodded again.

"I thought so. You seem really tall."

Goldie gently took the boy's hand from his chin and held it out before him. He drew an eight on the boy's palm, much to the surprise of the tiny blond, "You're  _eight feet tall?! Really?!_ "

Another card.

_More or less._

"Wow! You're like a  _giant!_ "

Goldie returned the boy's hand to his chin and nodded, smiling softly. It'd been years since he'd interacted with a child, save for his brother. It was…refreshing to get attention again. The feeling shrank slightly when the boy's smile dropped, "I…I can't find my mommy…"

Goldie nodded. He gathered that. The bear anima tilted his head to position one of his bear ears into the air and listened out for any concerned calling. It was kind of difficult to hear over the noises of cheering children, arcade games and a loud guitar; Goldie could hear no distressed parent at all. The bear anima stood up to his full height, only to pause when he heard the child whimper. The boy was making an attempt at grabbing his trouser leg again, obviously unnerved by Goldie's sudden disappearance. Goldie immediately crouched down to him again and searched his deck of cards, pulled out the appropriate one, then held it out. The boy took it and read the Braille.

_Is it alright if I pick you up?_

"Uh-huh…" The boy held out his hands expectantly and Goldie placed his own under the boy's armpits. He lifted him and held him in one arm, giving the boy his deck of cards to hold and skim through as a distraction. Goldie searched the crowd with his eyes. Still too difficult to tell where this boy's mother could be. Goldie frowned in irritation. This would be so much easier if the place weren't so packed. As happy as he was with his brother's success, he really wished the number of customers would decrease just a  _little._ Did nothing for his ears. Goldie sighed through his nose and turned to move toward the office. He'd take the poor lad to Phone Guy, who could speak over the microphone to the whole restaurant and request that the mother come and collect him. That was a good plan; Goldie went with that.

That blond started to step around the crowd, patting the boy's back reassuringly as he did so. The boy had begun playing with Goldie's bow tie, tugging slightly. Goldie didn't mind at all. Just as he was reaching the end of the crowd, he heard a woman shriek, "Lewis!"

Goldie's bear ears twitched at the sound and he winced when the boy accidentally pulled his bow tie too hard as he whipped around, "Mommy!"

Out of the crowd came a blond-haired woman wearing a white leather jacket and carrying a purse that looked far too heavy. Without regarding Goldie whatsoever, she snatched Lewis from his hold and held the boy close, then brushed his hair back and adjusted the braces holding his shorts up. Goldie's nose wrinkled; she must have dressed him in that. No child in their right mind would. As she straightened the boy's black bow tie ( _seriously?_ ), she hurriedly asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yes, Mommy." Lewis replied, still clutching Goldie's cards to himself. His reply sounded rehearsed. "I'm okay. Goldie helped me. He's Freddy's big brother, Mommy, look at him! He's  _huge!_ "

And his mother did look at him. Her smile had been so grateful and kind, but it immediately faded when she got a good look at him - or, rather, when she noticed his eyes. A small shriek erupted from her immediately - luckily not loud enough to be heard over the crowd - and she held Lewis closer to herself, shielding him from whatever harm she thought Goldie would do to him. Goldie jolted at the sound, then held out his hands in a calming gesture as he attempted to tell her he wasn't a savage like she obviously thought. Nobody could blame her; he was a black-eyed anima. Still, it didn't make Goldie feel terribly good when she exclaimed, "Don't touch me! Y-You stay away from my son, y-you…you  _monster!_ "

Goldie froze over immediately, the words echoing in his head. He dropped to his knees. Ice shot through his veins as the voice changed into one much more familiar and the words shifted to the ones he heard so long ago…

The mother ran while Goldie was frozen, shocking Lewis so much that he dropped Goldie's cards all over the floor. Lewis called out for Goldie, having no response, as his mother ran out of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza.

Goldie had no idea how long he was frozen like that for. When he finally snapped out of it, he found a hand shaking his shoulder. He immediately looked up, then jolted and fell onto his backside in shock at who his imagination forced him to see. Very quickly, however, his mind let him free and he saw Bonnie standing over him, brow creased worriedly, "Goldie? Are you okay, big guy? What happened?"

Goldie stared up at him, eyes so wide they hurt, and Bonnie looked down as he accidentally stood on one of Goldie's cards. "Did you drop your cards, huh, Goldie-bear? C'mere, let's get 'em for ya…" He knelt down, shifting his guitar out of the way, and started collecting Goldie's cards.

Goldie watched him for a moment, his mind all over the place. His memory attempted to keep back the moment that mother had made him feel awful and instead tried to focus on the bit before that. That boy had been so sweet and kind and scared; Goldie's natural protectiveness had kicked in so quickly, he'd completely forgotten about -

The bear anima gave a silent gasp as he suddenly whipped around on onto one knee to look out of the window again. He adjusted his head several times as people got in his line of sight and blocked his view until he finally got a good inspection of the place across the street.

The van was gone.

Goldie let out another gasp and raced to his feet, completely ignoring Bonnie's calls for him to wait. He pressed himself to the window and tilted his head to try and see down the street. Maybe the van had just left! If he could get a license plate…

The blond tore away from the window and out the door, almost accidentally knocking a couple over as he did so. Frantically, he searched the streets for a van matching the description Freddy had given him earlier that day, but alas. There was no van to check. Goldie's ears drooped unhappily and he sniffled. Great. So, not only was he a monster, he had disappointed his little brother too.

The door opened behind him. "Goldie? Goldie, what's the matter? Goldie-bear? You see an ice cream truck or somethin'? Gol -" Bonnie gasped as Goldie suddenly whipped around and buried his face into his shoulder, arms hanging by his sides. The rabbit anima stiffened at the sudden contact, then smiled warmly, "Goldie, what's wrong? Huh? C'mon, you big ol' teddy bear! What could be so bad?"

Goldie didn't have a card for that one.

_Everything._

…

Over the next few weeks after that incident, Freddy made it a habit to stand by that window when not performing or entertaining the kids. He didn't need Bonnie bringing Goldie to him again, telling him his big brother needed the shoulder of a little brother to cry on. If there was one thing Freddy hated, it was seeing his big brother upset.

It wasn't very often that Freddy got to stand there, what with such a busy schedule. If Phone Guy hadn't been so busy with the phones, he would've asked him to sit there and stake out the spot (he did, however, get him to watch it when he was on break) and if Mike bothered to turn up on time, he would've paid him extra to stand there (since Mike would've refused unless he got a raise). As such, Freddy himself had to stand there - it wasn't much fun and kids very often came up to him to ask him what he was doing. If the van had ever come during that time, Freddy had missed it.

Of course, that only frustrated him, to the point that he was drinking more coffee than usual and snapping at his employees without ever meaning to. Phone Guy had so much as asked him if he was okay and Freddy was off on a rant about how people should mind their own business. Foxy had requested help with his fake skin; Freddy had told him to do it himself. Chica had said his name once too many times when attempting to get his attention; Freddy had shouted at her.

This,  _of course_ , meant Bonnie was getting involved.

The rabbit anima watched his partner from across the restaurant, as Freddy had planted himself in that same spot as he had done so for weeks; staring out the window and borderline scowling at the building across the way. It had new windows and a new paint job now; even that hole in the roof had been fixed. Freddy wouldn't have been surprised if the inside had been fixed up too. Foxy and Chica cleaned the tables silently, while Goldie sat on the stage and stared at his feet. Bonnie huffed at the silence and sauntered over to Freddy. The bear either didn't notice him or ignored him; Bonnie didn't like it either way. "Freddy."

"Not now." Freddy waved a hand at him, apparently not realising who he was talking to.

" _Freddy._ " Bonnie tapped his shoulder.

" _What?_ " Freddy snapped, turning his head only slightly to look at him.

Bonnie didn't like  _that_ one bit. His hands went to his hips as he glared dangerously, " _Excuse me?_ "

Freddy stared at him for a moment, then sighed when he realised his mistake. Bonnie didn't let people speak to him like that; especially not his own beloved. Freddy leaned away from the window for a moment and tried to speak politely, though it came out more biting than he'd wanted, "Yes, Bonnie? What do you need?"

"I  _need_ you to come away from that window and stop being such a grump!" Bonnie exclaimed, "Freddy, you've been standing there for ages now! What's so interesting about an abandoned building, anyways?"

"I just…I'm just sight-seeing…"

" _Sight-seeing?!_  C'mon, Freddy, you can come up with a better excuse than  _that!_ "

Not right now, he couldn't. Freddy sighed and put a hand to his eyes, exasperated. "I just…think something's going on over there. I just need to see."

"Oh, Freddy…" Bonnie sighed. "…What kind of something?"

"Just…I dunno. Something. I…don't like it, though…"

Bonnie let out another sigh, then he gently took hold of Freddy's hand. "Come over here for a sec."

"But the thing -"

"C'mon." Bonnie gave his hand a tug; he wouldn't take no for an answer. Freddy sighed and allowed the rabbit to lead him over to a table, where he sat the bear down and took the chair opposite for himself. "Freddy, ya gotta stop this…you know how you get when a new place opens up in the area. You get all paranoid and obsessed and - Freddy."

"Hm?"

"Stop looking over there."

"I'm not."

Bonnie huffed, " _Freddy._ " He used one hand to turn Freddy's head back to him. "This is what I mean! It's already starting! Soon enough, you're gonna be going over there to 'check it out' and get all huffy with the customers! We can't have that, Freddy! Can we?"

"…No…"

"Now, c'mon." Bonnie offered him a gentle smile. "What are you worried about?"

_I'm worried that an anima child is being roped into things he shouldn't be and I'm scared that that place is gonna be unsavoury and maybe even against the law._ "I…just…it might be a new establishment, you know? I-I don't want…"

Bonnie's lips upturned a little more. It was always the same. Heaven forbid another restaurant turn up in the area, as Freddy was paranoid when it came to the food business. Even the slightest mention of a new establishment caused Freddy to immediately worry about the fate of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. It wasn't like he  _had_ anything to worry about; this place was the top of most people's lists. Bonnie found it kinda sweet that Freddy cared so much. "Oh, Freddy, you know people love this place. It's not like they're gonna suddenly swap restaurants over night! Even if this new place is popular - and I'm not saying it will be - you know we'll still have our loyal customers! An' there are lots of 'em too!" He touched Freddy's cheek with his hand, "You've got nothing to worry about, Freddy-bear. The kids will still all love you when this new place opens up," his smile turned into a light grin, "and so will I."

Freddy's blue eyes searched Bonnie's magenta ones for any traces of lying, then he smiled softly and placed a hand over the one on his cheek. Bloody hell, how was Bonnie so good at this? A sixth sense, he swore. A sixth sense. "…Thanks, Bonnie…I needed that…"

"You sure did." Bonnie giggled, "Now, stop being such a grumpy-grump. You yelled at poor Scott the other day and Goldie wasn't cool with that."

Freddy's bear ears twitched lightly. While Goldie seemed to have some strange fascination with Mike, Phone Guy was his other favourite. Heaven forbid anyone hurt Goldie's humans. "Right…I'll apologize…"

"And you yelled at Foxy and Chica and that's not cool with  _me._ "

"Right…I'll apologize to them too."

"Mm-hm."

Freddy smiled at Bonnie again, "Oh, and, uh…sorry for snapping at you too…"

Bonnie rolled his eyes, but that smile never dropped, "It's okay. I'm just glad my Freddy's back to normal." He raised himself from his chair slightly to nuzzle noses with Freddy, earning a gag from Chica.

"Ugh…" They heard her mutter to Foxy, "They're  _back_ …"

Freddy and Bonnie looked over at her, though the door opening interrupted whatever response the rabbit anima had to give her. Mike stomped into the room, took one glance at Freddy and Bonnie, then huffed, "Fucking hell, are they doing all that crap again?"

"Aye." Foxy replied from where he stood. By this point, Goldie had gotten up from the stage and joined Mike, smiling at him widely. Mike offered him a nod.

"Fuck…"

"Mike." Freddy spoke up, "Late. Again."

"Freddy. Fuck off. Again."

Freddy sighed as Mike disappeared down the corridor. There was the other thing he was worrying about…and Bonnie obviously picked up on that and rubbed his hand comfortingly. Freddy looked down at it, then smiled a little. "Bonnie…" He took a deep breath, "There's…something I've gotta ask…" From where they stood, Chica and Foxy jolted and looked at each other, then Chica motioned for the two to leave.

"Hm? What is it, Freddy?"

"Uh…um…" Freddy rubbed the back of his head, "Uh…I think I'd like to…"

"Yes?" Bonnie tilted his head. Chica and Foxy were almost to the door of the entertainer's room.

"…start our guitar lessons tomorrow."

"OH, COME ON!" Chica suddenly shouted, making Bonnie jump and Freddy face-palm. Bonnie cast a questioning look at her, then one to Freddy. The rabbit was left with silent questions unanswered.

As Mike reached the office, Phone Guy was packing up his satchel. The blond hung the bag on his shoulder, then jolted when he noticed Mike standing there, "Oh! Mike…hello, hello…!"

Mike offered him the same kind of nod he had given Goldie and went to sit in his chair. Phone Guy watched him cautiously. After discovering his dried-up tears the other day, Phone Guy swore he'd be more observant around Mike. People didn't cry for no reason and he always thought of Mike as such a tough guy. Not that tough guys didn't cry; Mike was still human. Still…it was surprising. The security guard caught onto Phone Guy's staring and looked up at him, glaring angrily, "Can I help you?"

"Uh!" Phone Guy jolted again, "No, I just…how ya feeling?"

"How am I feeling?" Mike repeated. Phone Guy nodded. "Oh, you mean my head? Yeah, it's great. Thanks for scaring the shit out of me this morning!"

"Uh…you're wel -"

"It was fucking sarcasm. Jesus!" He snatched the tablet from Phone Guy's desk and flicked it on to the camera in the entertainer's room. When Phone Guy didn't stop staring, Mike whipped around to him again, "Do you like what you see or something?"

Phone Guy's cheeks became pink in embarrassment, "Wha - no! I, well, that's not to say you aren't - uh -"

"Get the fuck out of here. My shift's starting." Phone Guy nodded awkwardly and straightened his coat, shuffling to the door quickly. As he left, he heard Mike call, "And tell Fazfuck to leave me alone! Not dealing with his shit today…"

Phone Guy nodded, despite knowing Mike wouldn't see, and escaped down the hallway quickly. After he was gone, Mike's eyes softened from their glare and his lips fell; completely melancholy. He huffed and rubbed his face with one hand, leaving it to cover his eyes. It wasn't long before his lip began quivering.

…

When Freddy pulled his car up to park in the car park the next morning, he was shocked to find Bonnie's car and Foxy's motorcycle already parked there. The Fazbear brothers exchanged questioning glances before tearing themselves from the car and speed-walking to the restaurant's doors. There stood Bonnie, Chica and Foxy. Bonnie was hopping from foot-to-foot, Chica was continuously huffing and Foxy was tapping his foot to a tune in his head. Freddy approached them all quickly, though Bonnie pounced on him before he could get a word in, "Freddy-bear! There you are! W-We missed you so much! Right, guys?!" Chica and Foxy didn't respond, so Bonnie nudged the chicken anima, who fell against the fox anima like a domino. The two looked to the rabbit, who nodded to Freddy, then obviously fake smiles lit up their faces.

"Oh, Freddy! Hey, buddy!" Chica exclaimed.

"Fazbear! Me favourite bear! Yer lookin' well this morning, that be fer sure!"

"Uh…what's going on…?" Freddy said awkwardly, searching each of their faces, "You guys are acting weird…and you're here so early!"

"We're just so excited to see you, Freddy-bear!" Bonnie took this opportunity to hug his boyfriend around the neck. Freddy robotically returned the hug, during which Bonnie snatched Freddy's keys from his pocket and plucked the restaurant key, "Now, let's get this place open! Ooohhh, we've got  _so much_ to do this morning! Don't we, guys?"

"We sure do!" Chica agreed.

"Aye, aye, we do!" Foxy chimed in.

Freddy's brow hurt from how far it was raised. There was a pregnant pause as Bonnie unlocked the door, then Goldie sucked in a breath and began frantically tapping his brother's shoulder, his hand a blur as he did so. Freddy began to turn to look at him, "What is it, broth - Mm!" During his turning, Bonnie had whipped around and grabbed him by his lapels, pulling him and kissing him square on the lips. The chicken and fox animas grabbed Goldie by his arms, forcefully holding them to his sides as he attempted to get his brother's attention, leaving him mouthing "Brother!" over and over again.

Bonnie had taken hold of Freddy's head by now, but that didn't stop Freddy from pulling out of the kiss, "B-Bonnie," his face turned bright red as he rubbed the back of his head, "n-not in front of _Goldie_ …!…Geez…"

"Oh, so you can do that in front of us?" Chica asked and immediately regretted it when Freddy began to turn to her.

"You're not my - Mm!" Once again, he was pulled into a firm kiss by Bonnie, who sent Chica a scolding look over Freddy's shoulder. Chica grinned sheepishly, then she and Foxy nodded at him and Bonnie took hold of Freddy's lapels again, "C'mon, Freddy, get in here!" Freddy stumbled as he was suddenly pulled inside his restaurant and was then immediately pushed against a wall and kissed again. While he was distracted, Chica and Foxy dragged Goldie into the building, Chica whispering to him to shush while Goldie silently shouted for his brother.

"B-Bonnie!" Freddy chuckled awkwardly when he was let up for air. Bonnie buried his fingers in Freddy's hair and kissed his lips again, then started on the rest of his face. "T-This is a children's restaurant! A-And my brother's…r-right there!"

"I-I know!" Bonnie kissed his ear. "I'm just so -" He kissed his cheek. "- so -" Kiss to the jaw. " _\- so -_ " Kiss to the chin. "-  _happy_ to see you -" Two kisses to the lips. "Freddy-bear!"

Freddy had the goofiest grin on his face as his bunny smooched the rest of his face, then he realised what was wrong with this picture. He hadn't been following his morning routine: no coffee! Freddy gently pushed Bonnie away from him, gaining a saddened look in response, "C-Come on, Bonnie, I, uh - we'll do this again in a minute. I - ahem - I need my coffee first." He separated himself from the rabbit and started walking across the restaurant to get to the entertainer's room. Bonnie bit his lip in panic, cast a worried look at the window, then raced after Freddy. With his long legs and rabbit genes, it wasn't difficult to catch up and he immediately pounced on him again. Freddy was so surprised, he didn't even fight back when Bonnie practically jumped on him and moved back until he was leaning against a table and Freddy was almost on top of him. " _B-Bonnie!_ "

"I-I…I really need you right now, Freddy-bear!" Bonnie exclaimed suddenly, making Freddy even more red in the face, and he buried his fingers into Freddy's hair and brought him down into a heart-melting kiss. Freddy went along with it at first, then forced himself to try and get off of him, but Bonnie pulled him back down with a cry of "No!".

"B-Bon -" He was pulled down again, " _Bonnie!_ " Freddy managed to pull himself from Bonnie's hold, though he didn't move off of him, "Y-You're being so…a-affectionate today! I-I know you rabbit animas  _like…_ " He trailed off on that one with an awkward cough, "B-But! I…you have to wait until after work! I-I can't…this is a  _children's restaurant, Bonnie!"_

"W-Well, then…let's go somewhere else!" Bonnie grabbed his hand, "Like…hey! Crazy idea! Let's go to your apartment! Yeah! Let's go back there a-and  _not_ do adult things in a children's restaurant! How 'bout that plan?! I like that plan!"

"Bonnie!" Freddy exclaimed when Bonnie tried to drag him away, "I-I - no! We have to work! I can't just leave because you're feeling a bit…uh…adventurous!"

Of course, Bonnie had an old trick up his sleeve. "Oh… _please,_ Freddy-bear?" He pouted at him and made his eyes as big and as sad as they could possibly go, all the while curling a strand of Freddy's hair around one finger.

Freddy forced himself to look away. Oh, that face. That face had gotten him into trouble before. Not to mention the 'Freddy-bear'. It was too much! The bear anima bit his lip as he felt Bonnie's eyes staring into his soul, "I…I…w-well…m-maybe just a few minutes…"

Bonnie gasped happily and grinned, hugging Freddy to himself in relief, then he grabbed the bear by his wrist and began heading to the door.

And Goldie picked that moment to break free from his binds.

"GOLDIE, NO!" Chica shouted as Goldie raced away from them. Foxy made an attempt to run after him, but Goldie pushed a chair out and Foxy tripped over it. Chica hurried to tend to her friend, just as Goldie reached Freddy and forcefully pulled him away from Bonnie.

"Woah, Goldie! I-I know you're protective, but -" Goldie shut him up by grabbing his chin and turning his head to the window. Immediately, Freddy's eyes widened as they drank in the sight, "…No…"

"N-Now, Freddy," the flustered and panicked Bonnie stuttered, "d-don't freak out! W-We just didn't want you to…D-Don't freak out! F-Freddy-bear…?"

"No, no, no, no,  _no, no, noooo!"_ Freddy shouted, ignoring the rabbit as he almost ripped his own hair out and gawked at the newly-placed sign on the building across the street.

FREDDY'S PIZZERIA.

 


	3. Which One of Us is Gonna Run the Show?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In a world where some humans are born with animal characteristics, only one restaurant stood based upon this new kind of human…well. Until the place across the street opened up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Five Nights at Freddy's. Scott Cawthon does.
> 
> Notes: humanised characters, swearing, some slight adult themes here and there.

"NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NOOOOOO!"

"Freddy!" Bonnie called, racing out of the restaurant behind Freddy and Goldie. The brunet had the lead, as would anyone who had just found out what he did, and his big brother was at his heels. Behind him, Bonnie heard the sound of clanking metal as Foxy joined in the chase; it wasn't long before the fox anima had passed him, though. Foxy always had been the fastest out of them. Chica was huffing and puffing as she hastily followed.

When Freddy made it to the building across the street, he slammed his hands onto one of the front doors, looking up at the sign as though it was counting down to his death. Sweat was already beading on his forehead. "What is this?!" He shouted to no one in particular. Goldie stood behind his left shoulder, frowning in irritated confusion. Who had  _copied_ his brother?! Surely, that little anima boy seriously hadn't…? Bear ears twitched as they picked up the younger Fazbear's suddenly higher-pitched voice, "WHAT IS THIS?!"

"Freddy…" Bonnie attempted, hands out to grasp Freddy's shoulders, but was startled when the bear anima suddenly grabbed his top hat from his head and almost broke it in two.

"W-What is this?!" Freddy exclaimed again, now biting on the brim of his hat. Bonnie winced at that. "T-This isn't happening…This isn't happening…! SOMEONE TELL ME THIS ISN'T HAPPENING!"

Goldie looked to Foxy, as though expecting him to say something, then to Bonnie and Chica. He glanced from one to the other a few times, then shrugged innocently. Well,  _he_ couldn't say anything - he didn't have a card for this! Just to be sure, though, he took out his cards and skimmed through them all. The bear bit his lip as he went through them, then he paused and considered one. Well…it wasn't ideal, but he supposed this one could do. Goldie approached his brother carefully and tapped him on the shoulder. Freddy slowly turned to him, still biting on his hat, and looked him up and down. The younger brother was obviously searching for comfort of some sort, for someone to tell him this was all a bad dream. Well,  _this_ older brother was good at comforting people! With an uplifting, encouraging smile, Goldie held out his card for his brother to read the writing on it.

_I'm sorry for your loss._

Freddy whined loudly around his hat and hit his head into the door, not enough to break it, but enough to leave a decent-sized crack. Goldie's smile dropped immediately, brow furrowing slightly, and he turned the card to analyse it himself. Perhaps this wasn't the best choice, after all…? His bear ears twitched as Chica gently placed her hands on his arm, "Best leave this one to Bonnie, big guy…" She muttered. Goldie pouted unhappily, but nodded all the same. It didn't do much for his mood that someone else could comfort his little brother better than he could. After all, big brothers were there to take care of their little brothers. He felt bad for not being able to comfort Freddy in his time of need.

"F-Freddy…" Bonnie tried again, approaching him slowly, "C'mon, it's okay. It's not like anyone's intentionally -"

"WHERE IS HE?!" Freddy suddenly snapped, lifting his head and peering into the glass, squinting to check the inside.

"Where's who?"

"THAT LITTLE BOY! WHERE IS HE?!" Freddy pressed his face to the glass so hard it hurt his nose, but he didn't care at this point. The lights inside the building were off, making it exceedingly difficult to see anything. Freddy managed to catch sight of a table or two, but it was almost impossible to make out proper shapes. They had put blinds up on the windows, so there was no hope of using those either, nor was there any opportunity to let in some light. It wasn't long, either, until the glass Freddy had pressed his nose into broke under the bear's strength. The panel shattered and shards rained to the ground, but Freddy didn't care in the slightest. Frustrated, Freddy's mind worked quickly to find another way, then he whipped around to Foxy, "Foxy, get a good sniff."

Foxy nodded slowly, unsure, and Freddy stepped back to let Foxy through. Out of all the animas there, Foxy had the best sense of smell. His nose had gotten them out of several troubles, namely lost children and concerned parents. He could smell an entire hour's worth of history on a person if they ever needed to know where said person had been or what had happened to them. If there was anyone who could find out what was in this building, it was Foxy. The fox anima approached the glass and laid his palms on it, tilting his head up and sniffing loudly. He tilted his head at different angles and alternated between standing on his tip toes and crouching. After a moment, Foxy frowned.

"Well?" Freddy snapped impatiently, "Anything?"

Foxy shook his head, "Nobody be in there, Fazbear."

Freddy growled lowly. Oh, yeah, trust that little brat to be away when Freddy finally noticed the work he'd done to this old place. The bear huffed and paced back and forth, grumbling to himself and listening for any signs of the van. Bonnie and Chica glanced at each other confusedly, then looked back to the bear anima when he suddenly spoke up, "Fine, then! I'll just wait for him here!"

"Wait for  _who_ here?" Chica asked impatiently. She knew Freddy would freak out upon discovering this old building's… _makeover_ , but she didn't expect this reaction. She expected him to run back to his own restaurant mid-panic attack and curl up into a ball in the entertainer's room, muttering how he was "the bear" and how cruel ol' fate could be to him. Not that he had ever done that before, of course. But, hey, one had to always expect the worst with Freddy.

"That little boy!"

"What little boy?" Bonnie asked this time, tilting his head. His bunny ears twitched lightly as they strained to listen.

"Okay - look," Freddy whipped around, fingers massaging his temples, "a while ago, I saw a little boy standing right  _here!_ " He jumped back in order to gesture wildly to the place he'd just been standing, "He was small and he had a hoodie and - and - he was an  _anima!_ He was an anima and he was a  _rabbit_ anima like Bonnie!" He held up his index fingers to his head to represent bunny ears. Chica snorted. "And he was telling some man about a plan they had here or something! And THIS was it!" He threw his arms up to gesture to the sign above them, "He was STEALING my restaurant! Ask Goldie - he saw 'em!" All eyes went to Goldie, who shrugged and held up a hand, tilting it side-to-side. Freddy spluttered, "Well, okay, okay, he didn't see them THEN! But he SAW them! Right?!" Goldie gave a small, hesitant nod. "SEE?!"

"Freddy!" Chica exclaimed, "Calm down! Look, I know this looks bad, but -"

A sharp gasp cut her off. She turned to berate Bonnie for interrupting, but he had already moved on to doing some berating himself, " _That's_ why you've been so obsessed with standing by that window! Why you've been so  _grumpy_ lately! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"I just…" Saying 'you would've spoiled the entire plan' probably wouldn't have gone down well, would it? "I dunno! It never came up!"

"Yes, it did! When I asked you what you were worried about!"

"Okay, fine! I should've told you, I've learned my lesson! There!" Freddy folded his arms and turned away to face the restaurant.

Bonnie took up the same position, only he tilted his head away, "Hmph! And you say you never lie to me…"

"What about you?!" Freddy suddenly exclaimed, "You were trying to keep this from me! All of you! And  _you!_ " He jabbed a finger at Bonnie, "You were gonna…distract me…with your… _body!_ " His face became enflamed in red.

Chica, Goldie and Foxy winced at either the wording or what it implied, while Bonnie became just as red as Freddy (only, he wore it better), "Hmph…almost  _worked_ too…Can't believe you lied to me…"

"You tried lying to me!"

"Hey, yeah, Bonnie," Chica spoke up, "you were the one who called us and told us to get in early to hide this from him."

Freddy's glare dropped for a brief second in surprise, then it was immediately back. Bonnie sent his own glare at Chica, which certainly shut her up, then he turned back to Freddy, "Okay, fine, I…might've lied too. But I did it cause we all know how you get when a new restaurant opens up! You get all bossy and obsessed and nobody wants to see you like that, least of all me!" Bonnie sighed, his bunny ears flopping over. The expression on his face tugged at Freddy's heartstrings, despite how irritated he was, and Bonnie twiddled his thumbs, "Especially with this place being called 'Freddy's' and all." He gave another sigh, "I'm sorry, Freddy. C'mon," he held out a hand, "let's just…ignore this, okay? Let's go back to our restaurant and focus on that for a while, huh? How's that sound?"

Freddy stared at him for a moment. The side of him that most often showed itself - the jolly man who was passionate about his business as a restaurant owner - shouted at him to do as Bonnie said and focus on his own place. After all, where was the guarantee that this place would even be successful? Where was this proof that they  _were_ actually copying him? They didn't have a blue rabbit anima on their team. A purple one, yeah, but not a blue one. Purple was  _made_ from blue, though…

Well, didn't that just settle it? A rabbit anima, a restaurant called 'Freddy's'- a pizzeria, no less! This was in no way a coincidence.

That little boy was stealing his restaurant - that had to be the truth! No way around it. "No." Freddy said after a moment. He turned from Bonnie, just missing the hurt look on his face, and folded his arms, "I'm waiting for that boy to come back."

Chica and Foxy winced, looked to each other, then looked to Bonnie. The rabbit man had frozen on the spot, his hand still out as an offer, though the expression on his face would have firmly ripped Freddy's heart out, nevermind tugging the heartstrings. Finally, Bonnie frowned and glared daggers at the back of Freddy's head, "Fine, then. Come on, guys, let's go back to  _our_ restaurant and make sure everything's ship-shape for the kids! Y'know, the ones we have to entertain at  _our restaurant!_ " When Freddy didn't give any visible reaction, Bonnie huffed and grabbed Goldie's wrist, "C'mon, Goldie, you too." He tugged on his wrist until Goldie sighed through his nose and allowed himself to be dragged across the street. Chica and Foxy gave each other another worried look before following Bonnie and Goldie back to their own restaurant, leaving Freddy on his own to look over his choices.

Upon entering the restaurant, they found Phone Guy standing at a nearby table. He looked at them all, bewildered, "Hey, did anyone see the building across the -" He paused when Foxy cocked his head and gestured to Freddy over his shoulder with one thumb, "Oh…Oh. You noticed. Hehe…"

…

What a bitch karma was, huh?

It must've been around lunch time when the first raindrop had fallen. Freddy had ignored it, of course, then the next had come. Another then, and the next and the next and the next. Soon, the heavens were sobbing their metaphorical heart out, further dampening Freddy's mood…and his suit. The bear anima growled lowly to himself, but didn't move. So far, no sign of a van or any little boy. Any other person would've given up a long time ago. Hell, any other person wouldn't have been standing out here in the first place. But this was Freddy Fazbear and Freddy Fazbear went to ridiculous extremes to keep his restaurant up and running, even if it meant standing out in a rainstorm to wait for the little punk that was stealing his restaurant.

Freddy sighed. He knew his restaurant was popular, but he hadn't expected someone to actually steal his establishment! Sure, his place had great food, kind entertainers, fun music and games, good reviews from critics and a friendly atmosphere, but that still didn't call for someone to steal it! Especially not a child!

That was the factor Freddy probably thought about the most. A child. A  _child_ was stealing his restaurant. How on earth had this boy even set everything up? Where were his parents? Family? He'd mentioned a big sister. Was she on this too? Was she the one taking care of him? How could she let a little boy go through all this? It just didn't make sense to him. Not at all. How independent, though, that child must've been to plan all of this and everything. When Freddy was a child, he and Goldie were going from apartment to apartment to try and  _live._ Goldie was doing everything for his little brother, while Freddy was just trying to keep the smile on his big brother's face. That bastard cousin of Bonnie's had wiped it away a long time ago; Freddy worked hard to bring it back. Whenever Goldie was sitting alone and frowning, Freddy would rush over to him and do  _something_ to make him smile. When he was a child, the little brunet would sit on his brother's lap and draw something with his crayons, then offer for Goldie to join in. That was enough to bring even the littlest of smiles to his face. As an adult, Freddy found that it was a bit more difficult. Acting cute by drawing pictures wouldn't work anymore. Freddy often resorted to telling a joke or bringing up a good memory. There wasn't really much he could do, but he made the effort.

That's what brothers did, after all.

Goldie had always told him it was his job to take care of Freddy because big brothers took care of their little brothers, but Freddy had always viewed it the other way too. Goldie used to tell him not to bother with his problems, they were Goldie's burdens to bear, but Freddy had never had any of that. If something bothered Goldie, then it bothered Freddy. The two were too close to view things separately like that. That was why Goldie was as involved in Freddy Fazbear's Pizza as Freddy was. Nothing had been given the okay until Goldie had seen it; he was the expert, after all. He'd run the first anima-based restaurant.

And now there was a third one.

Freddy sighed again. The only boost of confidence he had was that this restaurant simply couldn't be as good as Freddy Fazbear's Pizza - there were no Fazbears involved in this one. No Freddy, no Goldie. It simply wouldn't have the Fazbear panache that the anima-themed establishments before it had had. Still, that didn't mean it couldn't be successful.

It took Freddy a moment or two before he finally realised the rain had stopped falling down upon him. It definitely hadn't stopped altogether; he could still hear it. Perplexed, the brunet looked up, only to see a yellow umbrella being held above his head. From the orange beak attached to the front, he identified it as one of the Chica-based umbrellas they sold at the restaurant. Freddy looked to his left to find out who had held it, then smiled. Speak of the devil and he shall arrive. "Hey, brother."

Goldie tilted his head, rain wetting his top hat and the back of his hair. He was too tall to fit under the umbrella with Freddy completely. He pointed at Freddy, who sighed, "I'm fine." Goldie mimed sneezing into his hand, then pointed at Freddy. "Don't worry, brother, I'm fine. It's not that cold." Goldie frowned disapprovingly, to which Freddy scoffed. The older Fazbear reached for his own blazer, intending to take it off and wrap it around his brother, but Freddy stopped him, "I said no, Gold!" Goldie paused to stare. "…Sorry. Look, I said I'm fine. Just…listen to me, okay?"

Goldie slowly removed his hand from his own coat and adjusted the umbrella slightly, then sighed through his nose and stood silently next to his brother. Both of them just stared at the sign above their heads. Goldie bit his lip slightly. He had no gripe with his brother for making a restaurant based off of his own; he'd been flattered, actually. Freddy simply wished to carry on what Goldie had started; to redeem not only the Fazbear name, but the name of every anima everywhere. It worked, for the most part. But this restaurant had nothing to do with that dream. It wasn't part of the intention. Therefore, Goldie didn't care for it. But it bothered his brother, so it bothered Goldie. After all, a big brother had to take care of his little brother. Freddy sighed, making Goldie's bear ears flick.

"…I really thought it was gonna work out, brother." Freddy muttered downheartedly. "I actually thought this restaurant was just gonna be left alone. I just wanted to continue your work, that's all." He scoffed, "It's funny. The whole idea of the thing is dedicated to animas, but it's always animas that ruin it for us. Talk about irony." There was silence between them, then Goldie gave Freddy a little shove. Freddy looked to him and read his expression, "I'm not being dramatic. I'm serious - this kid's gonna ruin my business. Bonnie's cousin ruined yours."  _The name was not to be spoken between them._ "Always a rabbit anima…" Goldie slapped his brother's bicep. Freddy read that expression. "I'm not saying rabbit animas are bad! I mean…I love Bonnie. More than anything - except you, of course." Goldie nodded. "It's just…funny coincidences, y'know?…Wonder how successful this place will be…"

Goldie frowned. Freddy was really too paranoid. It was always the same: a new establishment would open up nearby and Freddy would freak out about how successful it would be compared to Freddy Fazbear's Pizza. No matter what Bonnie said,  _Goldie_ was the one who hated seeing Freddy like this the most. Brotherly instinct, you know. Goldie slapped Freddy's arm again, only harder this time, prompting a high-pitched, " _Owww!_ " Freddy turned to frown at him, only to pause at Goldie's disapproving look.

Goldie pointed at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, then gestured to Freddy. He began signing madly, though Freddy understood each word:  _Look at all you've done, brother! You run a restaurant - a successful restaurant! Stop worrying about everybody else and focus on your own restaurant!_

"Yeah, but…Goldie, what if -"

_Who cares?! Listen to me, brother, your restaurant is plenty popular. Didn't you listen to Bonnie? People will still love you, no matter what this new restaurant is like! The kids will still love you. They'll still pull their parents to your restaurant to see you. You need to stop panicking, Freddy. Not healthy._

Freddy's bear ears flopped slightly, suddenly interested in the puddle developing nearby. Goldie hadn't lectured him since he was nine, when he had attempted to climb a tree and couldn't get back down. Standing here, having Goldie wildly sign words at him like that, made him feel like a child again. A guilty, paranoid child. Freddy took another glance at his big brother, who now had a hand on his hip, then sighed, "…You're right, brother…I'm sorry…I'll…try to calm down about all this…"

Goldie nodded.  _That's all I ask._

Freddy sighed again, then looked over his shoulder at his restaurant. Through the window, he could see Bonnie playing his guitar for a group of children, who sat in a circle around him. Clearly, judging by how young the kids seemed to be, Bonnie was playing some nursery rhymes. The parents stood nearby, smiling warmly at the sight and muttering to each other. Freddy sighed through his nose. He should've been in there with him, not out here with this stupid building. "He still mad at me?" Goldie held up a hand and tilted it side-to-side. The bear anima looked to his feet again, completely missing Bonnie glance over at him worriedly. Goldie tilted his head to try and peek at his brother's face, then gently nudged him. Freddy looked up at him, "…C'mon, brother." He smiled gently, "Let's get out of this rain. It  _is_ kinda cold…"

Goldie blinked once, then nodded. Together, the brothers crossed the street back into their territory and away from enemy land. As they entered the restaurant, Goldie took down his umbrella and shook it off out the door to avoid any water dripping off. Freddy moved himself into the corner of the room, away from the kids, and shook himself off like a wet dog. "Ugh…wet fur…" He grumbled, rubbing at his bear ears. Even though he only had a little bit of bear fur, it still wasn't pleasant to keep wet.

Luckily, he didn't have to for long, as a towel was held out to him. Freddy paused, then looked to the one holding it. Bonnie. Freddy looked a question to him, but Bonnie just gave the towel a little shake, "Dry yourself off, you silly bear."

Freddy's mouth opened and closed, then he took the towel and gave the rabbit anima a hesitant smile. Bonnie gave him a small smile back, then went back over to the group of toddlers he'd been entertaining. The bear watched his partner take his seat and ask around for requests, only to be swamped by the little devils. Bonnie laughed through it, though, even as kids attempted to climb into his lap. Freddy chuckled lowly to himself and found a seat away from the crowds to try and collect his thoughts.

He wouldn't be alone for long, however. As Freddy rubbed the back of his hair with the towel, he noticed movement to his left and turned, only to recognise the girl with the blonde pigtails, "Emily," Freddy grinned, "hey, there."

"Hi, Freddy." Emily replied, staring up at him.

"Where's your mom?"

"Bathroom." Emily stepped closer to him and folded her arms on top of his thigh, resting her head on them as she gazed up at him. Freddy stared back until she tilted her head, "How come you're all wet?"

Freddy nodded to the outside, "I was standing out in the rain."

Emily raised an eyebrow, "That's weird - what d'ya do that for?"

Freddy opened his mouth, then closed it again. What  _had_ he been doing that for? He'd said he'd been waiting for the boy, but anyone could see he had given up hope of him returning any time soon. So why had he been standing there? Stubbornness? Must've been. Anyone who knew him would say that was the reason. "I…was just checking out the new restaurant…"

Emily blinked twice, tensing slightly. Freddy felt himself grow worried as she looked over her shoulder at it, then turned back to him, "But isn't that your restaurant? It's called 'Freddy's'."

Freddy gave an awkward smile as he felt his anger build up inside of him. However, he had vowed long ago that no child would ever see their beloved band leader angry, so he forced himself to keep it down, "Yeah, I know…that's, uh, that's a different Freddy…"

"Oh…Is he an anima too?"

That depended on if that little boy from before was 'Freddy' or not. The logical result was a yes; that kid seemed to be in charge. Then again, Freddy had his doubts. If they were copying, then surely they'd get a bear anima to be Freddy. Right? "…I don't know, Emily. I assume so."

"Huh…" She took another look at the restaurant over her shoulder, then looked back to him. "Don't you like the new place?"

"…I don't know."

Emily's brow furrowed, "Are you sad about it?"

"I…" How was he supposed to respond to that? He couldn't let a kid like her know that he was upset. Freddy was supposed to be a happy, jolly bear for the kids to go to when  _they_ were sad. He forced his little smile to be a bit cheerier, "No, I'm fine. Really."

Judging by the look on her face, Emily didn't believe that one bit. The little blonde girl pouted at him, tilted her head the other way, then gently took hold of his arm and hugged it, "Don't worry, Freddy. I'll always love you  _and_ this place!"

Freddy's face fell. Holy cow, would you look at that. Goldie had been right.  _Bonnie_ had been right. Both of them had been absolutely right - and now Freddy felt absolutely stupid. Heart warming up, Freddy smiled at the little girl beside him, "Thank you, Emily." He hugged her with one arm carefully, not wanting to get her wet nor hurt her. Emily smiled at him, showing off her dimples, making Freddy grin.

Seconds later, Emily's mother passed through the crowd and approached them briskly, "Emily! There you are! I told you to stay over by the stage!"

"Sorry, Mommy…" Emily muttered, shrinking back slightly in shame.

Freddy's bear ears flicked as he looked from Emily to her mother, then waved a hand in a calming motion, "It's alright, ma'am. Emily was just…excited to see me again."

The previously disgruntled parent seemed to soften almost immediately at Freddy's words, "Well…as long as you're alright…" She said to her daughter, then looked to Freddy with a smile, "Thanks for watching her, Freddy."

Freddy smiled widely at her and tipped his hat, "It's my pleasure, ma'am."

…

"Got any fours?"

Goldie shook his head and Phone Guy picked up a card from the small pile. Since leaving his brother, Goldie had retreated to the office to play with his friend. Mike hadn't turned up to work again, so Goldie was left to play with Phone Guy instead. Not that that was a bad thing; he cared for Phone Guy as much as he cared for Mike. They were both his greatest, best friends in the whole world; he'd practically claimed them as part of his sleuth. Still, he missed his game with Mike. It was always the highlight of his day; he'd be devastated if Mike never wanted to play it again. Goldie tapped Phone Guy's knee to get him to look at him, then held up two fingers. Phone Guy handed over his card. Goldie collected the other twos from his own hand and laid them out on the floor between them. Phone Guy regarded them sadly, "Aw."

Goldie sent him a small smile. Everyone knew how good Goldie was at games. Card games, cup games, hide and seek - you name it, Goldie would win it. Nobody quite knew if he was talented or extremely lucky. When he was little, Freddy used to tell people he was magic. Goldie let others believe whatever they wanted; he couldn't bring himself to particularly care. He was sure Phone Guy had offered up a card game just to humour him; the man was definitely sick of losing.

"So…Goldie, I've been thinking." Goldie's bear ears flicked and he tilted his head to show Phone Guy he was listening. "I think…we should maybe have a word with Mike…" Goldie's bear ears flicked again. "I mean…I know we should've done it earlier, but…well, you have to be delicate with him, don't you?" Goldie nodded. "So…I dunno. Maybe -" He was cut off by one of the phones on his desk ringing. "Oh! S-Sorry, Goldie, hold on…" He collected the receiver of the ringing phone and held it to his ear, "Hello, hello! Freddy Fazbear's Pizza - what can I do ya for?!"

Goldie waited patiently for his friend to finish the phone call. To be honest, he'd been concerned about Mike as well. Ever since Phone Guy had noticed Mike's dried tears, the two had been careful around Mike. Since Mike had such a sharp temper, they hadn't pried at all, nor had they worked up the courage to ask him about his tears. Mike was almost a stereotypical tough guy - he most likely didn't like people knowing he'd been crying for whatever reason. Goldie had stopped himself from being too excited around him and Phone Guy had hesitated in talking to him full stop. The bear anima knew Phone Guy had hated practically ignoring Mike like that, but he was a careful man who hated conflict. One couldn't blame him for such precise planning. Freddy had been so focused on the other building that he had basically forgotten the problem with Mike. Again, Goldie didn't blame him.

Finally, Phone Guy hung up with a "Have a lovely day, ma'am! Bye-bye!" and turned back to Goldie. "Got any sevens?" Goldie shook his head and Phone Guy sighed, then collected another card from the pile. "…What do you think is wrong?" Goldie raised a brow and thought about how to sign 'you're not  _that_ bad at this', though Phone Guy clearly noticed the confusion and elaborated, "With Mike."

Goldie's lips formed a perfect 'o', then he tilted his head away to think about it. For as long as he could remember, Mike was a pretty chilled-out guy. Not much around here particularly bothered him too bad; not enough to make him cry, anyway. It was…certainly alarming. That meant it couldn't be anything  _here_ specifically. At home, then? Was everything alright with his family? Friends? House? Was he having troubles? Did he need their assistance? God, it could be a number of things. Freddy had told them both about how Mike had been in prison before, so…had Mike done something… _worse_ this time? Goldie didn't even want to think about that possibility. Mike Schmidt was a good man; one of the best Goldie had ever met! He couldn't have done something so horrible! Goldie shrugged and softly shook his head, then held up three fingers. Phone Guy groaned and handed over his three cards. Goldie collected them, then set them on the floor with the one card he had had possession of.

"I just hope it's not anything too bad…" Phone Guy muttered. He hesitated, then looked to Goldie's face properly, "Uh, hey…maybe we should do this without Freddy?" Goldie jolted. "Well, I mean, he has his hands full with the whole business across the street. I'd hate to, uh, to stress him out more." Goldie's ears flopped as he pondered it, then he nodded slowly. "Right. So…we're agreed, then. When Mike comes into work later, we'll have a chat with him."

Goldie nodded. Of course. They had to take this matter into their own hands if Mike wasn't going to open up to them. That's that friends were for, right? Butting into each other's business?

Yeah, totally.

Only seconds later, after questions for various cards and placing sets down on the floor, Phone Guy blinked, "…Well, that can't be right…" He looked back and forth between his sets and Goldie's, then looked to Goldie almost worriedly, "Goldie…I win."

Goldie's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open as his own black eyes darted back and forth between the cards laid out on the floor, then he smiled widely and gave two thumbs up to Phone Guy. Phone Guy, however, wasn't tasting the sweet taste of victory, "I've never won against you before…" Phone Guy analysed the cards again, then looked to Goldie, who was climbing to his feet and brushing himself off, "Heh…Goldie, did you let me win?"

Goldie paused and turned back to him. He snorted, offended, and grabbed his deck of communication cards from his breast pocket, skimming through them quickly. Finally, he found the appropriate one and held it out. Phone Guy leaned forward to read it.

_Good God, [insert name here], I would never do that._

…

As luck would have it, no other incidents occurred that day. Freddy hadn't gone to the window at all, Bonnie seemed in a much better mood, the children hadn't been too rowdy; no arguments, no sour moods. A good day for everyone.

Closing time had approached fairly quickly and the entertainers waved goodbye to their fans. As soon as the last one was out the door, Bonnie sighed loudly and hopped off of the stage, jogging over to the door to change the sign to ' _Sorry, we're closed!'_. Foxy stretched his spine and Chica cracked her knuckles, " _Okay!_ Gee, slow day today, huh?"

"Aye," Foxy agreed, already going to take off his fake skin, "th' lads an' lasses be quiet t'day."

"Must be the rain. No kid likes rain."

"Hm."

As they went about their business, Freddy himself was watching Bonnie. The two hadn't yet had a chance to speak to each other about their argument, so now seemed just about right. Freddy bit his lip as he felt his nerves creep up on him. This was going to be like asking Bonnie to move in with him; theoretically possible, but not.  _Settle down, Fazbear. It's just Bonnie._ He'd spoken to him after fights tons of times. None of those had been particularly easy, mind you, but -

"Freddy…?"

Freddy jolted. Lost in all his thoughts, he hadn't even noticed Bonnie staring at him, nor had he noticed the rabbit anima walk over. The bear anima blinked a few times to make himself focus, then he looked over the bunny before him. Bonnie's ears had flopped over in what was most likely nerves mixed with shame. He was hugging himself with one arm, rubbing his free hand across the elbow to comfort himself, and his eyes barely looked at Freddy from under the lids. "Uh…about…y'know, trying to keep that place from you…uh…especially with the, uh, method I used…" Bonnie's cheeks were a bright pink, "I was sort of being a hypocrite, wasn't I…? I-I'm sorry…"

Freddy's heartstrings were practically ripped apart. Here his bunny was, all shy and nervous and guilty, but he'd been the one who'd lied and hadn't listened to Bonnie and - and - had just been a total  _jerk!_ "N-No, Bonnie, hold on," Freddy cut in before Bonnie could say more, "It's my fault. I'm the one who lied to you first and I shouldn't have. I-It was a silly thing to lie about, anyway."

"Well…I overreacted."

"No! No, you didn't! I shouldn't have lied like I did."

"Well, I shouldn't have counter-lied!"

"Well, I shouldn't have started this all by lying in the first place!"

"Well, I -"

"Oh, my gosh!" Chica suddenly shouted, making the rabbit anima jump. The two turned to look at her, only to see her frowning at them deeply with her hands on her hips, "Just kiss and make up already! Geez, you guys are so  _lame!"_

Both men blinked in unison, then looked back to each other. Together, they grinned, suddenly feeling silly, and Freddy glanced back at Chica, "Says  _you._ " With that, he wrapped an arm around Bonnie's waist and pressed a kiss to his lips, one that the rabbit anima gladly returned; his foot popping up.

"Ugh!" Chica turned her head away, "They're at it again, Foxy."

"Aye," Foxy signed as he picked up a broom to clean the floor with, "but it be their nature, lass."

"Yeah, well, this is my nature." She suddenly doubled over and pretended to vomit, earning her a chuckle from Foxy. Invoking déjà vu, Goldie chose that precise moment to step into the room. He tilted his head at Chica, blinked twice, then wandered over to her. Cautiously, he leaned down to her face in an attempt to examine her mouth for any signs of vomit, but she stopped as soon as he got too close, "No - Goldie, look, we're doing this again." She acted it out again for him. Goldie let out a silent 'oohhhh' and stepped to her side, then began miming along with her; just like before. "There you go, big guy, you're getting it!"

Foxy gave a grin at the whole scene. These people were strangest he'd ever met, but they were by far his greatest friends. Not a day went by when he didn't mentally thank Phone Guy for introducing him to them all. Speaking of which, his old friend stepped out of the west hallway, already wearing his beige trench coat and carrying his satchel on his shoulder. Foxy looked over at him, fox ears twitching, "Leavin' early t'day, Scott?"

"Hm? Oh, no." Phone Guy took a seat at one of the tables, "I'm, uh, waiting for someone."

Foxy raised a brow in confusion. Not to sound offensive or anything, but Phone Guy wasn't horribly social. Foxy was one of his few friends. Who could he possibly be waiting for? The fox anima was about to voice this question when a sudden screech cut him off. Chica jumped a foot in the air, while Freddy, Bonnie, Foxy and Goldie all covered their animal ears and whimpered in pain. Phone Guy jolted lightly, his human hearing not as sensitive as everyone's animal sense, and he stepped forward to put a hand on Foxy's shoulder, "Are you alright?"

"Aye…" Foxy rubbed his ears. "Be a ringin' in me ears, Scott…"

Goldie hastily rubbed one of his bear ears with one of his large hands, disgruntled and hurting. He nodded when Freddy quickly asked if he was okay. Bonnie was still whimpering lightly, forcibly keeping his bunny ears flopped over in order to protect them from any other horrible noises. Freddy held out a hand to him, his other one massaging his left bear ear gently, "Are you okay, Bon?"

"Ow, ow, ow!" Bonnie exclaimed, "What  _was_ that?!"

"Sounded like…" Phone Guy narrowed his eyes in thought, "…tyres…"

"Tyres?!" Bonnie repeated, "Well,  _someone_ got their driver's licence from the back of a cereal box!"

At that exact moment, both Freddy and Goldie turned to each other with the same expression of shock on their faces. Freddy mouthed 'tyres' to him and, in return, Goldie mouthed 'the van'. In the blink of an eye, Goldie was over by the window, much to Bonnie's chagrin, "Goldie, no. We said we weren't gonna do that anymore. Come away from there…"

Goldie ignored him and pressed himself to the glass, then gestured outside to Freddy wildly. Freddy's mouth opened to say something, but voices cut him off.

"OW, OW, OW!"

"Sorry, man. Forgot you animas had sensitive hearing. Lost control a little!"

"Gosh!" Cut in a clearly female voice. "You should get this stupid van checked!"

"Nothin' to check! She's as good as ever!"

"Ugh…You sure this is okay, little bro?"

"O' course! We're - ow - just gonna go take a look! C'mon, guys."

"I-I dunno about this…" Piped up another boy's voice. "W-We could get in trouble…The 'closed' sign is up! S-So - this is technically breaking in! I-Isn't it…?"

"Who knows! But, hey, we got a van! Quick getaway! Now, c'mon!"

Freddy wanted to move or say something, but all he managed was a deep frown. They were perfectly okay with breaking into his restaurant?! Seriously?! Ooohh, they were going to  _get it!_ Alright, this wasn't technically breaking in, but they were  _okay with it anyway!_ Bonnie took hold of his arm, though whether it was to keep Freddy from doing anything or if it was out of fear of what was about to happen wasn't very clear. Either way, Freddy felt a surge of protectiveness in his heart; for both Bonnie and his restaurant. The doors opened and a group stepped in to the building. Everyone's eyes were on them and the new group paused and stared. "…Oh." The blue-eared bunny boy said in the silence. "…Awwwwkwaaard."

Bonnie offered a little chuckle and stepped forward to address them, "I'm sorry, kids, but we're closed! You can come back -"

" _You!_ " Freddy suddenly yelled, stomping forward and pushing Bonnie aside to get to the small boy at the front of the group. "You're the little boy I saw outside!"

The little anima boy blinked his big, green eyes at him innocently until the young lady behind him grabbed one of his bunny ears, "He  _saw you?!"_

"Ow, ow!" The kid exclaimed, "I didn't know that! Lemme go! Lemme go!" She did so and he stumbled away from her before pulling the hood of his red hoodie down. On his head was a mop of scruffy, blue hair, matching the fur of his rabbit ears. Bonnie's lips became a perfect 'o' at the sight of him. Freddy himself took a moment to look over each member of the group. The boy he'd spotted outside was a scrawny little thing up close, pale and fairly dirty. He had to be younger than thirteen, Freddy would estimate. How had he come this far at such a young age? He looked to the blonde that had grabbed the boy's ear.

Asian, by the looks of her, with a pixie haircut. A chicken anima too, with the bright feathers and beak to prove it, though her beak seemed to shine faintly under the light above them. Pretty thin as well, though her hips were fairly wide under her jeans. She seemed cleaner than the rabbit boy; older too. Twenties, Freddy would guess.

Next was the little brunet boy. At him, Freddy had to pause. He looked almost exactly like Freddy had when he was a child. Different haircut, lighter shade of brown hair and overweight, but the scared look in his blue eyes was the same. Lo and behold, he was a bear anima too. Freddy's nose scrunched up, especially when the boy looked at him shyly, then he turned to the little girl latched on the boy's arm.

The smallest of them all, she was a fox anima. No, not just that - a  _white_ fox anima. Her hair and the fur on her ears and tail was the same colour as snow. Freddy blinked twice. Her left eye was covered up by one of those post-op eye patches patients at hospitals had to wear. Freddy raised a brow at it, catching the little one's attention. She leaned up to the little bear anima and whispered in his ear. He muttered back to her in something Freddy couldn't understand for the life of him: French.  _She can't even speak English,_  Freddy thought with a frown. Behind him, he heard Foxy mutter, almost in shock, "I…I be a lass over thar…"

"What d'ya see, anyways?!" The rabbit anima boy exclaimed, his hands shoved into the pocket on the front of his hoodie. There was a symbol on it; whoever had owned it before him had graduated college.

Freddy looked back to him. For a moment, he looked like he wanted to respond to the question. Instead, he promptly burst into laughter. Everyone paused and stared at him confusedly as he threw his head back and laughed; a deep, booming sound that frightened the little bear anima. One hand went to his stomach to try and control himself. Bonnie tilted his head, "Freddy-bear?"

At that, Freddy's laughter died down enough so that he could speak, "I can't believe this!  _This!_ " He gestured to the group before him, " _This_ is what I was worried about! A bunch of  _kids!_  I can't believe it!" He laughed again; this time the hand went to his forehead.

The rabbit boy opened his mouth, then scowled, "We're not  _kids!_ We're  _young adults!"_ He looked pretty proud of himself as he puffed out his chest and folded his arms. Only, it prompted Freddy to laugh again. "Stop laughing at me!"

"I'm sorry…I-I'm sorry…" Freddy waved a hand, "I-It's just…I've been worried all this time for  _nothing!_ You're just  _kids!_ "

"Oh, you were worried, huh?!" The kid taunted.

"Because you  _stole_ my  _restaurant._ " Freddy snapped, his laughter suddenly all gone.

"No, I didn't! You don't own pizza or the name 'Freddy'!" The kid yelled back. "We can open up a restaurant if we want!"

"With that name? That's basically plagiarism."

"No, it isn't!"

"B-Bonnie…" The little bear anima muttered, holding out a hand to touch the boy's shoulder, "M-Maybe we should -"

" _Bonnie?!"_  Freddy repeated in surprise, glaring at the kid now.

"That's my name, don't wear it out." 'Bonnie' grumbled back.

"No, it isn't." Freddy pointed at Bonnie -  _his_ Bonnie. The  _real_ Bonnie. "You're just copying his name! What's your real name?"

"Bonnie!"

"No, it isn't!"

"Yeah, it is! My name is Bonnie!" He gestured to his friends, "They'll vouch for me! My name is Bonnie - deal with it, old man!"

"Old man?!" Freddy repeated darkly. Suddenly, he began to lunge forward, only for Chica and Foxy to grab his arms.

"Fazbear, he be just a boy!" Foxy exclaimed as they held him back. Freddy wasn't struggling against them, but they weren't taking any chances. While they knew Freddy would never harm a child, they knew how scary he could be when he was mad. Judging by how frightened the little fox girl looked, it was too late.

"Who cares?! He's also a little  _brat!_ " Freddy spat. As soon as the word had left his mouth, the employees of Freddy Fazbear's Pizza all gasped in unison. In their shock, Chica and Foxy dropped Freddy's arms.

Bonnie lifted his hand from his mouth to point at Freddy and exclaim, "Freddy said the b-word!"

"Oh, come on!" Freddy looked around at all of them, "That was  _justified!_ You heard what he called me!" He turned back to the little Bonnie, "And you should respect your elders."

"Ha! So, you're admitting you're old?!" The little bunny boy sneered, grinning now.

"No! I'm  _admitting_ I'm an adult! And you're a child! Now, tell me your real name and we can get this plagiarism thing sorted out."

"It  _is_ my real name!" The kid yelled.

"Right, right. Of course it is."

"It  _is!"_  'Bonnie' put a hand over his heart, "I'm Bonnie." He gestured to his friends, "This is Chica, Freddy and Mangle!"

" _Mangle?!_ " Freddy laughed, " _Seriously?!_ You plagiarise my restaurant and you can't even get my entertainers' names right?! Ha-ha!" The fox anima girl shrank back behind her friend. That only made 'Bonnie' scowl. "And don't think I didn't notice that you have two girls and two boys, either! We have three boys and one girl. Another thing you got wrong."

"So we like equality! Sue us!" 'Bonnie' snapped sarcastically, folding his arms.

"I could. Like I said, this is plagiarism."

"How?! Those are our names and it's gonna be  _our_ restaurant! We were  _inspired,_ we ain't  _stealing!_ " The boy was downright shouting now. Freddy didn't like that one bit. He respected kids, but only if they respected him first. This one didn't deserve any of his respect.

"Yeah. Cause that's how a judge would see it. Listen, kid -"

"My name is  _Bonnie!_   _Toy_ Bonnie!"

Freddy almost choked on his own laughter,  _"'Toy'_ Bonnie?!"

"Yeah, y'know. 'Toy'. Like…" He paused, faltered, then sighed, "…Kid…"

"Oh. So you admit you're a kid?" Freddy asked patronisingly; the same way Toy Bonnie has asked him if he'd admitted to being old.

"N-No! It's just a nickname!" He gestured to his group, "We're the Toys, see?!"

Freddy's stomach was hurting now. He just couldn't stop laughing - this was too funny! To think,  _this_ was what he'd been terrified of! A silly, little boy who was too big for his boots. Pfft! This kid knew  _nothing_ about the restaurant business! Who had he been kidding?! "Alright, then, Little Boy Blue. Say I did believe 'Bonnie' is your real name. This is just a coincidence, is it? That you have the same names as us and you just  _happen_ to be the same types of animas? Hm? Because I'm sure every cop in America will think that's right. Eh? What d'ya say, Little Boy Blue?"

"W-What -" Toy Bonnie spluttered; his face was as red as a tomato, "What did you just call me?!"

"You heard." Freddy grinned.

Bonnie, at this point, was horrified. This Freddy standing here wasn't the Freddy he fell in love with! The Freddy he loved would never be such a bully to a little boy, even if this kid had -  _maybe_ \- plagiarised his restaurant! Quite frankly, as far as Bonnie was concerned, this little boy was telling the truth. Maybe it was some big coincidence; Bonnie liked to think those existed. His bunny ears twitched when the blue-haired boy suddenly yelped, "That's it!" and rolled up his hoodie sleeves, "You're gonna get it now, old man!" The older rabbit anima gave a little gasp when Toy Bonnie charged at Freddy, only for the bear to put a hand out. Toy Bonnie's forehead collided with Freddy's palm and, just like that, he was held in place. Wildly throwing his fists around, Toy Bonnie commanded, "Lemme go! Lemme go! I'll  _deck ya!"_

"Yeah, sure you will, kid." Freddy chuckled. And here he thought he wouldn't be laughing when he talked to this punk…

"Freddy!" Bonnie exclaimed, hands going to his hips as he frowned deeply at his bear. Freddy's bear ears flicked, "You let him go right now!"

"Sure." With that, Freddy lifted his hand from Toy Bonnie's forehead. Toy Bonnie hadn't even realised until it was too late and he went plummeting to the floor at Freddy's feet; his buck teeth cutting into his bottom lip as his chin hit the tiles. Bonnie gasped and went to move to help him up, but Toy Bonnie was already scrambling to his feet. The rabbit anima had tears in his eyes and blood seeping from his cut lip as he scowled at Freddy and prepared another fist, then he suddenly froze. His green eyes widened as far as they would go and his bunny ears flopped over as he began to tremble. In fact, his friends had that look on their faces too. Freddy's bear ears flicked lightly, "Hm?" He looked over his shoulder to see what they had suddenly started staring at, then he nodded in understanding and looked back to them with half-lidded eyes. "Oh, that's just Goldie. Wave hi to Goldie, kids."

The Toys - as they were  _apparently_ called - did almost nothing; only the white fox anima (Mangle, was it?) began to wave enthusiastically at Goldie, who ignored her. Nobody had even noticed Goldie move from the window to stand behind Freddy's left shoulder, but there he was - and he was glaring daggers at Toy Bonnie.  _Nobody_ \- and he meant  _NOBODY_ \- tried to hurt his little brother. Even a little brat like this one. His large fists were squeezed shut, his shoulders were tense, his lips were turned downwards and his nose was partly wrinkled - everybody recognised that look in a second. On any other anima, one didn't have to fear much. On a black-eyed anima, it was a whole other story.

Bonnie swallowed thickly and slowly approached Goldie, standing between he and Toy Bonnie. He held his hands out in a calming gesture, "N-Now, Goldie, it's  _okay._  Everything's fine. Nobody's hurting Freddy…It's  _okay,_ big guy…"

Goldie gave no reaction, only continued to glare at the little boy that had threatened his brother. Thus, Phone Guy finally moved. His movement was shaky at first, then became quicker as he neared the scene. He approached Goldie by his left side and gently laid a hand on his arm. He heard Foxy mutter his name warningly, though he ignored him. "Goldie…hey, Goldie…hello, hello, Goldie…" Goldie's bear ears twitched; that was a good sign. "Goldie…why don't you come and sit with me, huh?"

"Yeah, Goldie…" Bonnie ushered gently, "Why don't you go and sit with Scott? Scott's your best friend, right?"

"Yeah, c'mon, Goldie, come sit with me. We'll play cards again, hm? You, uh, you don't even have to let me win or anything. C'mon, big guy…"

The tension in the room was thick as three of the Toys continued to tremble and Goldie continued to glare at Toy Bonnie - or, at least, at the person his imagination was once again forcing him to see. He'd barely reacted at all to what Phone Guy had said. Freddy was staring at his big brother intently. He'd seen him do this several times and never once had Goldie ever acted on his wants. As far as Freddy was concerned, black eyes didn't matter. Goldie was Goldie; his big brother was his big brother. Finally, Goldie looked down at Phone Guy. His glare didn't lift, however - it was almost as though he was asking a question:  _why are you stopping me?_

"C'mon, Goldie…" Phone Guy said gently, "Come sit with me, hm? Would you like that, big guy?" Goldie stared at him, then turned to him and allowed Phone Guy to slowly lead him away from the group, "It's okay, Goldie. It's okay. I've got you, Goldie, I've got you. There we go." Goldie looked over his shoulder at Toy Bonnie, only for Phone Guy to pipe up, "N-No, Goldie, look at me." Goldie did so and Phone Guy nodded in approval, "C'mon, Goldie. Mike will be here soon. You don't wanna be mad when Mike gets here, do you?" For once, Goldie reacted appropriately to Phone Guy's questions: he shook his head. "Exactly. C'mon, come play cards…"

Freddy watched them go over his shoulder, then turned back to Toy Bonnie. "I'd recommend you don't do that again. You have no idea what my brother is capable of."

"Y-You threatening me?" Toy Bonnie asked, putting one hand to his cut lip as it stung.

"No. I'm warning you." Freddy glanced at his counterpart, then back to Toy Bonnie. He nodded in Toy Freddy's (he'd assume that's what he'd be called) direction, "Looks like your friend had a little accident."

Toy Bonnie looked to Toy Freddy, who was blushing in embarrassment as he stared down at the stain on the crotch of his green trousers, "Ack!  _Fred!_ " Toy Freddy looked away, his face darkening by the second. Toy Bonnie huffed, then brought his hand up from his cut. Once he saw the blood smeared on his hand, he paled and looked terrified all over again. For a second, Freddy thought he was going to vomit.

The blonde lady, Toy Chica, noticed this too and immediately stepped forward to grab Toy Bonnie's shoulders and pull him into a protective hug. She stroked his hair gently, then muttered soothingly to the other Toys, "C'mon, guys, let's go. We need to go and get our rest." She turned to glare at Freddy, "They're just kids."

"Who are plagiarising my restaurant." Freddy retorted with a frown.

Toy Chica huffed and grabbed Toy Freddy's shoulder, "C'mon…" She directed them back to the door and walked them out. Just like that, Freddy's competition had left his premises.

Freddy scoffed as they left, "Can't believe that was what I was worried about…HA! Did you see -" He paused when he saw the look on Bonnie's face, "What?"

"You were a big  _bully_ to those poor little kids!" Bonnie snapped grumpily, arms folded over his chest.

"Oh, come on! They're stealing my restaurant, Bonnie! You can't expect me to be okay with that!" Freddy tried to reason.

Bonnie frowned deeply at him, "The Freddy I know wouldn't have acted like that."

Freddy faltered, then gave Bonnie his own frown, "Well, the Freddy you know has never been plagiarised before. C'mon, Bonnie, you understand, don't you?"

No, he didn't understand. He knew Freddy didn't like competition and he knew plagiarism was one of the worst things the world had to offer (well, y'know, to some people), but they were just kids! How could Freddy be so cruel?! He'd made one of them  _bleed!_ Thus, Bonnie didn't give a proper response. Rather, he simply gave out a "Hmph!" and turned his nose up, stalking over to the window and not gracing Freddy with his presence any longer. Freddy spluttered out nonsense as Bonnie silently told him the conversation was over. Great. So soon after the first fight came another.

Chica wandered over to Freddy's side, "Don't worry, Freddy. I'm with you on this one." She huffed, "That chicken doesn't even look like me…"

"Hm…" Freddy looked to the doors. As they opened again, he jolted, then chuckled, "Oh? Back for more - Mike."

The security guard looked to him steely, a hand clutching one of the straps on his blue rucksack, "Hey, there."

"You missed all the fun, Mike." Freddy chortled, hands on his hips, "Those kids from across the way were in here. Get this: they have the same names as us! Coincidences, huh?"

"I guess." Mike grumbled, clearly expecting Freddy to chew him out for being late again. "You had yourself a little catfight, then?"

"Mike, that's…that's racist."

"Is it? My bad." Mike replied without remorse as he disappeared into the office. Freddy sighed through his nose and looked to Chica. If there was anyone he was expecting to get excited about a fight, even a verbal one, it was Mike. Mike loved fighting! Heck, fighting led to his first meeting with Freddy! He let it slide for now and instead looked around at everyone in the room, "Alright, new rule: no one's allowed to go over there. That building is officially enemy territory -" Bonnie gave a snort at that, "- and no one's allowed to talk to them. Capiche?"

Chica nodded, Foxy gave a murmur of agreement and Bonnie flat-out ignored him. Freddy sighed. Great. The 'Toys' were already ruining everything.

From where he sat with Goldie, Phone Guy watched Mike go, then nudged the bear anima beside him. Goldie was staring at the tiles beneath him in shame, his bear ears flopped over. He hated getting like that. That wasn't who he was. He was Goldie Fazbear; he was a human being. An anima, yes, but a human being all the same. Not some…monster. At Phone Guy's nudging, Goldie glanced at him without lifting his head. Phone Guy nodded in Mike's direction and Goldie sighed through his nose, then nodded slowly. The two blonds rose up from their seats together, heading out into the west hallway. Phone Guy led the way, feeling his nerves catch up with him. Mike was not entirely an easy man to talk to, Phone Guy knew from experience, so one had to proceed with caution. As he reached the doorway, he peeked in carefully. Mike had taken his seat (which Freddy had replaced not too long ago) and was staring intently at nothing. Phone Guy swallowed thickly as he watched him, then cleared his throat. Mike jumped and whirled around to him, only to stop and groan when he saw Phone Guy, "Uh…" Phone Guy put a hand up as a greeting, "Hello, hello, Mike…!"

"Do you always say that when you greet people?" Mike grumbled, slouched in his chair.

"Pretty much."

"Hmph."

"Uh - Listen, Mike. Goldie and I -" He took a moment to gesture to the bear anima behind his shoulder. Goldie gave a wave; Mike must've seen it out of the corner of his eye as he nodded lazily back, " - have noticed your, um…behaviour lately and -"

"What kind of behaviour?" Mike asked suspiciously, raising a brow.

"Uh - just that…you've been late and, um, that you don't talk to us much anymore…"

"Watch out - Sherlock and Watson are on the fucking scene. Everyone hold on to your hats." Mike muttered sarcastically.

"We just…wanted to know what was going on. Y'know? C'mon," he held out a hand, "let's have a chat, huh? Would you like that, Mike?" He took the same tone as he had done with Goldie. Judging by the look on Mike's face, he wasn't appreciating it one bit, "We're your friends, Mike. We'd just like to help…"

He'd expected Mike to be sarcastic. He'd expected Mike to almost flat-out ignore them. He  _hadn't_ expected Mike to suddenly slam his palms down on his knees and shout, "You wanna help me?!" He kicked at the tiles to make his chair roll over to the office wall, "Then PISS OFF AND LEAVE ME ALONE!" Mike slammed a fist to the button on the wall and down came the metal door Freddy had installed. Phone Guy was suddenly grabbed and pulled back before his hand could be crushed.

The blonde human panted lightly from the adrenaline (and the fact that Goldie had pulled him back so quickly, it'd knocked the wind out of him), then he looked up at Goldie, "Thanks, Goldie…" Goldie nodded and released him. Phone Guy straightened himself up and stared in surprise at the shut door before him, not even reacting as Freddy came speed-walking down the hallway.

"What was  _that?!_ " Freddy exclaimed indecorously.

"I…Mike…" Phone Guy managed.

Freddy looked to the closed door, then approached it and knocked on it, "Mike. Michael. Open up, please."

"FUCK. OFF." Mike shouted back from inside.

Freddy opened his mouth to reply, only for Phone Guy to cut in, "Uh…Freddy, maybe we should just…leave him be…He's clearly…riled up right now…" Sure, it'd been his idea from the start, but Phone Guy knew conflict when he saw it. Mike wasn't in the mood. So be it.

Freddy looked like he wanted to argue, then just sighed and rubbed his face with one of his large hands, "Right. Right…alright. Tomorrow, then." He said, loud enough for Mike to hear. He was ignored. Sighing and shaking his head, he bear anima stalked back out of the hallway, Goldie right beside him. Phone Guy went to follow, then paused and looked through the window at Mike. The security guard had tilted his head away to glare in the other direction, possibly at Phone Guy's desk, or perhaps he was staring at the other doorway to check if Freddy was going to go through there. Either way, it did nothing to hide the tears flowing down his cheek. Phone Guy's mouth opened in surprise, then he sighed and walked away. Tomorrow it was, then.

As for Foxy, he hadn't taken note of his best friend's antics right now. Instead, he'd gone over to Bonnie and stood by his side, attempting to conjure up some advice to give on the bunny's situation. He was never very good with these relationship things - mainly because he hadn't been in one himself in a long, long time. Luckily for him, Bonnie spoke first, "Foxy."

"Aye?" Foxy looked up. Bonnie was staring at the building across the street, arms still folded. Déjà vu kicked in again; he looked just like Freddy.

"You're a pirate of adventure, right?"

That sent a grin to Foxy's face, "Aye, o' course, lad! Ol' Foxy be the best pirate ye ever did see!"

"Mm-hm." Bonnie smiled, "So, you like exploring uncharted areas, right?"

"Aye…" Foxy replied, more uncertainly this time. He didn't like that look on Bonnie's face.

"So, then. How 'bout, tomorrow, we explore some uncharted area?"

Foxy looked from Bonnie to the new restaurant across the street, then back to Bonnie; he got the gist. "B-But Fazbear just said -"

"Oh, who cares what that fuddy-duddy said?" Bonnie waved a hand, "I'm not letting this just go to waste. Those poor kids…they were so scared…No, no. That's it. I don't care what Freddy says; I'm going over there. Tomorrow." He looked to Foxy, "You in?"

Foxy opened his mouth, closed it, then sighed. Freddy was going to kill him for this, he could just tell. But, hey, curiosity was a powerful thing. "…Aye, lad. I'm in."

 


End file.
